QUICKENING QUAGMIRE:

Tensions ease as Shiite leaders meet (ROBERT H. REID, 6/06/04, Chicago Sun-Times)

[R]adical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr met in Najaf with Iraq's most influential spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, for the first time since the anti-U.S. cleric launched an uprising against coalition forces in April, an aide to al-Sadr said.

Najaf and Kufa were calm as Iraqi police extended their control after a deal announced Thursday to remove gunmen loyal to al-Sadr from the streets.

Al-Sadr briefed al-Sistani on that deal to pull back Shiite militiamen and U.S. forces from Shia Islam's holiest shrines, said Ahmed al-Shibani, a representative of al-Sadr's office.

"Al-Sistani has thanked [al-Sadr] for his efforts . . . to peacefully resolve this crisis,'' al-Shibani said. ''The agreement is moving ... toward success and is on the right path.''

Al-Sadr has been eager to win the support of al-Sistani -- an older, more moderate cleric who commands broad respect among Iraq's Shiites. Al-Sistani has been eager to avoid a U.S. assault on Najaf and to prevent internal rifts among the Shiite majority, which is hoping to take power in national elections in January. [...]

Iraq's new prime minister, Iyad Allawi, has called for a halt to attacks on Americans and other foreign soldiers, saying their presence would be needed after the transfer of sovereignty to help improve security.

Allawi said in an interview Saturday with Al-Jazeera television that security would be one of the major tasks of his new government.

He criticized the U.S. decision last year to disband the Iraqi army after Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed.

''We will try to resolve these problems, and we are looking forward to building a strong Iraq, based on love, peace and brotherhood,'' Allawi said.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Allawi had written members of the Security Council a letter outlining the interim government's relationship with U.S.-led coalition troops. That, and a return letter by the coalition to the Iraqi leader, will constitute a military structure for future operations in Iraq, Powell said.

He said the letters make clear that Iraq will have jurisdiction over its own military forces, but not those of other nations, including the United States.

Get your fill of Iraq stories now, because in a month they'll be buried in part D of most newspapers and almost never on the nightly news.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 6, 2004 11:11 AM