Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr extended indefinitely a ceasefire for his Mehdi militia on Thursday and ordered his followers to protest peacefully against the U.S. occupation."The freezing of the Mehdi army is considered valid until further notice, and anyone who violates this order will not be considered part of the Mehdi army," Sadr said in a handwritten statement read by senior aide Hazim al-Araji in the cleric's offices in the southern holy Shi'ite city of Najaf.
The influential anti-American cleric has issued orders curtailing and redefining the activities of his Mehdi Army fighters after Iraqi government and U.S. forces defeated them in Baghdad and the southern city of Basra this year. Sadr said earlier this month he would dissolve the militia if U.S. troops start withdrawing from Iraq according to a fixed timetable -- something Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has sought in negotiations with Washington.
In June, Sadr decreed that only a select group of the Mehdi Army, named after the revered 9th Century Shi'ite Imam Mehdi, would be authorized to battle U.S. forces in Iraq.