Iraqi PM Halts Raids Against Mahdi Army

BAGHDAD - Iraq's prime minister on Friday ordered a nationwide freeze on raids against suspected Shiite militants after the leader of the biggest militia complained that arrests were continuing even after he ordered fighters off the streets.

The announcement was a major shift from comments Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki made a day earlier. It came after Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, whose Mahdi Army militia fought government troops last week, hinted at retaliation if arrests of his followers did not stop.

Meanwhile, a suicide bomber killed at least 15 people and wounded eight when he blew himself up during a policeman's funeral in Sadiyah, a town 60 miles north of Baghdad on Friday. Police said the bomber mingled among the mourners and then triggered an explosive vest.

Also Friday, military and police officials in Basra said a number of Iraqi soldiers and police were reported to have mutinied or refused to engage al-Sadr's militants during last week's fighting.

The officials said the mutiny involved a full infantry battalion belonging to the 4th Iraqi Division numbering about 500 men and some 400 policemen. The deserters also turned over to the Mahdi militia some of their weapons and vehicles, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

The desertions cast new doubt on the effectiveness of U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces. The White House has conditioned further U.S. troop withdrawals on the readiness of the Iraqi military and police.

On Sunday, Al-Sadr ordered his militiamen off the streets in a move that ended the weeklong fighting. He also demanded that the government stop arresting his followers and free detainees held without charge.

Al-Maliki's statement did not mention the Mahdi Army by name or give a timeframe for the freeze, saying only that the move is designed to give a "chance to those who repented and want to lay down their arms."

Al-Maliki's move appeared to be a goodwill gesture toward al-Sadr and his followers. But it was also a dramatic turnabout: He said Thursday that he intended to launch security operations against Mahdi Army strongholds in Baghdad, including Sadr City, home to some 2.5 million Shiites and the militia's largest base.

Last week, Al-Maliki said that gunmen in Basra had until April 8 to surrender their heavy weapons, but Friday's statement made no mention of that deadline.

"Those who lay down their arms and participated in the recent acts of violence will not be prosecuted," said the statement. He also ordered the repatriation of families forced to flee their homes because of the latest fighting and cash donations to the families of those killed or wounded in the violence.

He said Iraqis whose property has been damaged in the fighting also would be compensated.

Despite a drop in fighting, Iraqi officials insist that the Basra crackdown will continue until it breaks the stronghold that armed groups have had on the city since 2005.

A U.S. military statement on Friday said that during the operation Iraqi special forces had captured a suspected militant leader who has been rallying insurgents in Basra to fight against coalition forces.

The statement said the suspect was linked the kidnapping and murder of Iraqi security troopers and had been involved in oil smuggling "and foreign fighter networks." No further details were released.

Maj. Tom Holloway, a British military spokesman, said a roadside bomb targeted a British force "supporting an Iraqi-led operation at the very fringes of Basra." He said the British were "mentoring and monitoring" the Iraqi operation, but provided no further details.

The action came a day after Iraqi troops killed seven militants and detained 16 in three separate incidents in the same general area.

In a separate firefight, a coalition warplane was used to bomb insurgents engaging Iraqi special forces in the city. The air strike killed two militants, the U.S. statement said.

Iraqi officials have insisted the crackdown is against criminal gangs and not al-Sadr's political movement.

Elsewhere, a roadside bomb early Friday killed four policeman and wounded one in Hillah, a town about 60 miles south of Baghdad, a police spokesman said.