(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-03-31 19:49

A nine-point statement by al-Sadr also called on the government to halt its raids on his followers, indicating that the lull in fighting between his militia and government forces is fragile.

The Sadrists have complained that the government has released few of their followers under a new amnesty law, which they allege has favored Sunnis who have recently joined with the Americans to fight al-Qaida.

The cleric's decision offered a way out of a widening Shiite conflict at a time when government forces appeared to be making little headway against the well-armed militias in Basra.

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Al-Sadr's order stopped short of calling on his fighters to disarm. And the government insisted it would still target "outlaws."

In Basra some supermarkets and stores were open on Monday, but residents said few people were venturing out.

In Baghdad, a citywide curfew was lifted, although a vehicle ban remained on three strongholds of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in the capital.

Sadr City, a Shiite stronghold from where many of the mortars and rockets landing in the Green Zone are believed to be launched, was calm, residents said. Cars and buses were moving within the sprawling neighborhood, though they weren't allowed to leave the area.

In other parts of Baghdad, shops and schools were open and people were heading to work.

Elsewhere, unknown gunmen in a car attacked a checkpoint manned by U.S.-backed Sunni fighters near Buhriz, about 35 miles north of Baghdad, police said. Four of the fighters were killed.

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