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Najaf: Moqtada Al Sadr has called off a mass rally in Baghdad planned for Wednesday, his aides said on Tuesday, as clashes continued in the conflict-ridden region.
Al Sadr’s followers had been blocked by Iraqi security forces from traveling to Baghdad from the Shiite areas where he garners great support as well.
Al Sadr had called for a "million-strong" protest to mark the fifth anniversary of the capture of Baghdad by US troops, in what was seen as a show of force in his conflict with the government, but two aides in the Shiite leaders office said the rally had been cancelled.
Iraqi government forces and Shiite militia fighters clashed anew on Tuesday despite a government ultimatum to anti-American cleric Moqtada Al Sadr to either disband his Mahdi Army or give up politics.
Fighting erupted again early on Tuesday after Iraqi units tried to enter the area, a police officer said.
Explosions could be heard across the capital, stemming apparently from the neighborhood in eastern Baghdad. Jets circled central Baghdad much before sunrise.
The clashes come as General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, prepared to testify on the war later on Tuesday.
Petraus was expected to tell two Senate committees that last year's influx of 30,000 troops to Iraq had helped calm some of the sectarian violence but that to prevent a backslide in security, troops would likely be needed in large numbers through the end of the year.
Also, a US soldier died on Tuesday from wounds received in a roadside bomb the previous night in northeast Baghdad, raising to 11 the number of American troop deaths since Sunday.
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