Truce collapse in Najaf; al-Sader calls for the resignation of the Iraqi government

The Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sader called for the resignation of the Interim Iraqi government and described it as a dictatorship government.

Al-Sader called for the formation of a national army from the previous and current Iraqi armies, al- Mahdi army, the Kurdish Bashmarka militias and Bader organization which affiliates to the higher council of the Islamic revolution.

Al-Sader, whose hand was medically treated and banded said before his supporters at al- Haidari platform that he will not leave al-Najaf and that truce is valid in it and it is only in the city and called on his supporters in other cities toi be always ready.

The American forces stopped its main attack in al-Najaf against the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sader following a truce which came 8 days after bloody fighting resulted in killing scores among killed or wounded.

Aides for the Shiite leader said they informed government negotiators that al-Sader is ready to dismantle the weapons of his followers and launch the political efforts for the withdrawal of the American forces and handing over Najaf administration to the Shiite reference. These demands by al-Sader caused today the announcement of the failure of the truce talk. "I feel deep sorrow and regret to announce the failure of the efforts we have exerted to end the crisis in Iraq peacefully," Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the national security adviser to Iraq's interim prime minister said today according to the New York Times.

In a statement read yesterday by Sheikh Ali Smeisem, the spokesman for al-Sader, the Shiite leader sets ten conditions to halt fire in Najaf including the withdrawal of the occupation forces, the police and the army from the city, old Najaf to be protected by the Shiite reference, withdrawal of al-Mahdi army forces from the city after handing it to the Shiite reference and bringing back services to Najaf and forming a commission supervising the city and also ensure the freedom of political activity for al-Sader trend.