The US military on Thursday cautiously welcomed Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's freeze on militia activities, including a halt to attacks on US-led forces. "Any time someone in Iraq, especially a leader, wants to use non-violent methods to solve problems and to participate in a meaningful way in the future of Iraq, we encourage this," said US military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Garver.
"As always, the proof will be what we see on the street. But we encourage any leader to work to end criminality, to work to end violence and to seek non-violent methods to move Iraq forward," Garver said in a statement, cited by AFP.
Sadr on Wednesday called a six-month halt to all activities of his around 60,000-strong militia, after the Mahdi Army was blamed for causing a bloodbath in the shrine city of Karbala that left 52 people dead.
Meanwhile, Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari stated on Thursday he did not believe that the much-awaited progress report by top US officials in Baghdad would contain any "magical solution" to end the crisis in Iraq. US General David Petraeus, the head of coalition forces in Iraq, and American Ambassador Ryan Crocker are set to present their report on progess in stemming sectarian violence and effecting political reconciliation in war-ravaged country to the Congress next month.
The report is expected to direct US President George W. Bush's future strategy for Iraq. But Zebari said the report was not expected to present any strategy to end the crisis.
"I personally believe the report will not produce any magical solution or an instant answer to the problems we are going through," Zebari told reporters.
