Iraqi PM seeks to ease tensions with militia

By Khalid al-Ansary

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Friday his security forces would stop arresting militiamen if they gave up their weapons, apparently seeking to defuse tensions with Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

In a statement, Maliki said he would grant amnesty from prosecution to anyone who took part in clashes in southern Iraq and Baghdad last week if they handed in their guns.

The statement appeared to soften Maliki's position from Thursday, when at a news conference he threatened a crackdown on Sadr's strongholds in Baghdad in the wake of some of Iraq's heaviest street fighting in a year.

"To give space and an opportunity for those who are remorseful and are willing to give up their weapons, all pursuits and raids in all areas will be stopped. Those who take up arms will face the law," Maliki said.

His statement was released just before Muslim midday prayers, after which hundreds of Sadr's followers staged sit-ins in the capital's Sadr City and Shula neighborhoods, Sadr strongholds which remain sealed off after last week's fighting.

Sadr followers chanted anti-U.S. slogans and held up caricatures of Maliki and umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun. The sit-ins were a prelude to a huge demonstration Sadr has called for next week.

"We are calling for the withdrawal of the (U.S.) occupiers, for detainees to be released and for an end to targeting Sadr partisans and the Mehdi Army who are defending the rights of the people," said day-laborer Saad Hussein, 30, in Sadr City.

Maliki ordered a crackdown on militia in the southern city of Basra last week but his army faced stiff resistance from the Sadr's Mehdi Army fighters. U.S. and British forces had to launch air and artillery strikes to support Iraqi troops.

Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Mohammed al-Askari told Reuters around 1,000 Iraqi soldiers had deserted during the fighting in Basra, something that will concern Washington.

The ability of Iraq's security forces to maintain security as the number of U.S. troops is reduced will be a key topic when the top American officials in Baghdad deliver a progress report on Iraq to the U.S. Congress next week.

ATTACK ON CONVOY

In a sign of the volatility that persists despite an end to major fighting, a British military spokesman said U.S. helicopters had launched a missile strike in Basra. Eyewitnesses said there were casualties and clashes followed the attack.

Gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades at a convoy carrying Askari and other senior Iraqi commanders in Basra, said a Reuters reporter in the convoy. No one was hurt.

Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S. special forces, killed seven suspected militants and detained 16 others in three operations in Basra on Thursday, the U.S. military said.

Sadr's movement has told the Mehdi Army to ignore previous Maliki orders for members to hand in their weapons.