Suspension of al-Sader city negotiations, two Turkish hostages released

A round of talks between the interim Iraqi government and representatives for al-Sader Martyrs groups failed to reach a settlement to contain the clashes renewed between al-Mahdi army and the Iraqi forces in al-Sader city after the fighting had stopped in Najaf.

The negotiations which the two sides had started on Sunday in the presence of officials representing the police, tribal chiefs and representatives for the governments and others from al-Mahdi army were suspended for 24 hours.

News reports said that the suspension decision came after representatives of al-Sader (Martyr) office representatives refused an American request that fighters of al-Mahdi army hand over their weapons and continued to hide armed manifestations in the city.

The director of al-Sader office in al-Sader city Sheikh Youssef al-Naser said that he will reach an agreement with the government shortly, adding that "certain points are still pending" and he hopes to reach an agreement on all points.

Al-Naser said that a truce was reached today morning on the ground another meeting will be held later. A matter which was also confirmed by the police commander in al-Sader city Marouf Mousa Omran.

However, the Shiite political council in Iraq appealed al-Seistani to interfere in order to stop the sweeping of the American forces towards al-Sader city, demanding to use the agreement of Najaf cover all parts on Iraq and not only the holy cities.

In a later development, the American forces killed two gunmen who attacked its forces in Tel Afer city near Musil to the north of Iraq.

The American army said that two gunmen fired nine missile shelling at an American vehicle on Sunday at dawn at a police center and a mosque noting that 34 Iraqi civilians including children and women were hit as a result.

On the other hand, an armed Iraqi group released two Turkish engineers, who were held in Iraq since last week.

The Turkish Anadolia News agency said that the process of releasing the two Turkish came after the two companies that recruited them said they will withdraw from Iraq in order to save their lives.

The agency said that the two released detainees are now in the Turkish embassy in Baghdad. The Turkish CNN TV station quoted one of the hostages as saying that the kidnappers treated them in a good way and provided them with food and accommodation.