The Age: Secret deal keeps Sadr's men armed
FIGHTERS loyal to firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr have been allowed to keep weapons such as AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenade launchers as part of secret provisions in a deal that ended the 22-day siege of the Iraqi holy city of Najaf.
The revelation by Sayyed Immad Mohamed Kalantal – who acted as an intermediary in the agreement brokered by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric – raised fears members of Sadr's Mehdi Army could regroup and prepare a new armed uprising against the Government and its US backers.
Mr Kalantal said the clause had been agreed to by Iyad Allawi, the Iraqi Prime Minister. Mr Allawi had initially been determined to "finish off" Sadr's militia but baulked at the consequences of a full-scale assault on the city's Imam Ali shrine.
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