Sadr Refuses To Disarm Militia

Agence France Presse reports that Sadr apparently refused to disarm his militia following a "final call" from Iraq's prime minister to renounce arms:

Amid what one AFP correspondent called the heaviest shelling in the Old City since the conflict began, Sadr refused in a letter to disarm but urged his fighters to hand over the shrine to Iraq's highest Shiite authority, the Marjayia.

[. . .]

"Everyone knows this army is the foundation of the Imam Mehdi and I don't have the right to dissolve it," said the text, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, referring to the 12th Shiite imam.

According to the Associated Press, Sadr ordered his fighters Thursday to hand over control of the Imam Ali Mosque to top Shiite religious authorities, hours after U.S. forces bombed positions of Sadr's forces and Iraq's prime minister made a "final call" for their surrender:

In a speech, interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi had warned the radical cleric to disarm his forces and withdraw from the shrine after his government threatened to send a massive Iraqi force to root them out.

Defying that ultimatum, al-Sadr sent a telephone text message vowing to seek "martyrdom or victory," and his jubilant followers inside the shrine danced and chanted.

Thursday's fighting came a day after Sadr accepted a peace plan for Najaf, demanding he disarm his militia, leave the shrine and turn to politics in exchange for amnesty.

The standoff with Sadr has got to be ended in a way which is perceived as a victory for Allawi. Sadr can not be allowed to prevail.