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Baghdad: Shiite cleric Muqtada Al Sadr raised the stakes in his showdown with the Iraqi government, threatening to end formally a seven-month ceasefire unless authorities stop attacks on his followers in Baghdad.
Formally ending the ceasefire could trigger renewed fighting throughout southern Iraq, nine days after a deal brokered in Iran calmed the region.
But clashes continued in the capital on Tuesday, as American and Iraqi soldiers stepped up the pressure against Shiite militants in their Sadr City stronghold of northeast Baghdad. US troops fired missiles at three mortar positions, killing 12 militants, the American command said. Iraqi police and hospitals said 14 people were killed and 37 wounded in Sadr City.
The Iraqi military ordered vehicles and motorcycles off the streets from 5am on Wednesday until midnight, a move apparently aimed at preventing Shiite gunmen from moving freely about the city.
The vehicle ban was imposed despite a decision by Al Sadr to call off his "million-strong" demonstration set for Wednesday to demand an end to the American military presence. Al Sadr's Mahdi militia has been battling American and Iraqi soldiers in the sprawling Sadr City slum.
Fearing the demonstration might trigger violence throughout Baghdad, Iraqi soldiers began turning back military-aged men travelling to the capital Tuesday from Shiite areas to the south.
Al Sadr then called off the rally, apparently fearing a modest turnout would display weakness at a time when he is locked in a violent power struggle with Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, a fellow Shiite. Al Maliki has told Al Sadr to disband his militia or give up politics.
Instead, Al Sadr's aides called a news conference on Tuesday at a hotel on Firdous Square, where US Marines hauled down the statue of Saddam five years ago. The aides released a statement condemning the government for allegedly bowing to "the hated American pressure."
Al Sadr said in a statement, "I call on the Iraqi government, if it exists, to work to protect the Iraqi people, stop the spilling of its blood, and the abuse of its honour."
He also urged the government to "demand the withdrawal of the occupier or a schedule for its withdrawal from our holy land."
Otherwise, Al Sadr said he might formally end the ceasefire he imposed on his Mahdi militia last August, a move that US officials acknowledge played a major role in calming the violence until last month.
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