Iraq's Sadr suspends militia operations indefinitely

"The Mahdi Army suspension will be valid indefinitely and anyone who does not follow this order will not be considered a member of this group," Sadr said in a statement issued by his office in the Shi’ite shrine city of Najaf.

The militia, created after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to fight invading American troops, became the most active and feared armed Shi’ite group in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, accused of operating death squads blamed for the killings of thousands.

In 2006, at the height of Iraq’s communal bloodletting, a Pentagon report said the Mahdi Army was the greatest threat to the country’s security, even greater than al Qaeda.

At that time Mahdi Army death squads reportedly carried out sustained campaigns of violence -- kidnapping, torturing and brutally killing members of the minority Sunnis Arab community across Iraq, especially in Baghdad.

Dozens of tortured and bullet-riddled bodies of Sunni Arabs used to be found dumped on the capitals streets, allegedly killed by Mahdi militiamen.

The U.S. military cautiously welcomed Sadrs decision.

"We welcome this announcement that appears to be an effort to support the Iraqi people," military spokesman Major John Hall told AFP. "The proof is always in the actions and not just in words."

Sadr said the militia would now focus more on cultural programs.

"We have set a cultural program for the Mahdi Army and we have named it Al-Mumahidun (Supporters of the Mahdi), and everybody should abide by it and whoever does not agree with it will be expelled from the army."

He did not immediately give reasons for his decision which came after he promised earlier this month to dismantle the militia if a planned security pact between Baghdad and Washington provides for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

The two sides are still negotiating the pact that would govern U.S. troop levels and allow them to operate after a U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said this week that they had agreed there would be no foreign forces in Iraq after 2011, setting a timeline for a U.S. withdrawal.

The White House has repeatedly said no deal has been finalized.

Sadr ordered a six-month freeze of Mahdi Army activities in August last year after allegations his fighters had been involved in clashes with security forces in the shrine city of Karbala.

He extended the freeze for a further six months in February.

A key Sadr aide said the latest announcement served to renew the existing freeze, as well as to ensure plans to turn the Mahdi Army into a social organization are actually carried out.

"We want to transform as large a number as we can of Mahdi Army fighters into a social organization," Sheikh Hazem al-Araji told AFP.

But he did not say the Sadr movement would renounce an armed wing entirely, instead speaking of a smaller, more disciplined force, a plan first announced by Sadr in June.

"The resistance is for the professional fighters only that will be selected according to Sadr’s rules," Araji said.

Sadr’s decision to stop fighting in 2007 came around the same time that many Sunni rebel groups decided to join forces with the U.S. military to fight al Qaeda and amid a "surge" in American troop numbers.

These factors have led to an overall drop in violence to a four-year low.

Maliki took on the Mahdi Army in March when he ordered an offensive against Shi’ite militiamen in the southern city of Basra, sparking fighting in Baghdad and central and southern Iraq in which hundreds were killed.

Sadr forces have also clashed with other Shi’ite factions, notably the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, a Shi’ite religious party led by Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, a key government ally of Maliki.

Currently believed to be in Iran, Sadr led two uprisings against U.S.-led forces in 2004 and had repeatedly vowed to fight on until U.S. troops leave Iraq.

The group takes it name from Al-Mahdi Al-Montazar (the Awaited Mahdi), the revered 12th Shi’ite imam who disappeared in 907, and who Shi’ite’s believe will return to bring justice to the world.