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Shiite militia fighters start turning in weapons in Baghdad
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 07 - 10 - 2004


Followers of cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr trickled in to police stations in Baghdad's Sadr
City district to hand in weapons Monday under a deal seen
as a key step toward ending weeks of fighting with U.S. and
Iraqi forces in the Shiite militant stronghold.
Checkpoints lined the road to al-Nasr police station, and
Iraqi National Guard members took up position on the
surrounding rooftops.
Police Maj. Kadhim Salman said fighters had turned in
machine guns, TNT paste, land mines and other explosives.
Fighters are supposed to be compensated for the weapons
they turn in, but Salman said those responsible for the
payments hadn't turned up yet. So, receipts were issued
instead.
Outside the Habibiya police station, a pickup truck
offloaded some 20 grenade launchers and dozens of mortar
rounds, Associate Press Television News footage showed.
U.S. soldiers supervised the process from a distance.
Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army agreed over the weekend to hand in
its medium and heavy weapons at three police stations in
Sadr City. The arms transfer is supposed to last five days,
after which Iraqi police and National Guardsmen will assume
security responsibility for the teeming Shiite slum, which
is home to more than 2 million people.
In return, the government has promised to start releasing
detained al-Sadr followers, provided they did not commit
crimes. It has also suspended raids in the northeastern
Baghdad district.
Vice President Ibrahim al-Jaafari welcomed the handover
Monday as a "good and positive initiative," telling APTN
that he hoped other insurgent enclaves would follow Sadr
City's example.
Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's interim administration has
committed more than US$500 million (¤406 million) to
rebuilding Sadr City, scene of weeks of heavy fighting
between U.S. troops and al-Sadr's militia.


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