By Xinhua
Baghdad : Two leading Iraqi Shiite political rivals agreed Saturday to jointly prevent further violence and bloodshed in the country bogged down by factional scuffles.
The two blocs led separately by influential politician Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and hardline cleric Moqtada al-Sadr reached a deal at the Shiite holy city Najaf, acknowledging the necessity of preventing bloodshed under any circumstances, according a statement they signed.
The deal also included the establishment of joint workforces at the provincial level to prevent clashes between factional members.
The deal came as concerning are growing in Iraq that tension between the two most powerful Shiite groups would spiral out of control and complicate the present political crisis.
Hakim’s Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) is Iraq’s largest Shiite party and the key part of the ruling coalition.
Sadr has been maintaining a hardline policy toward the presence of the U.S. military in Iraq. His militia Mahdi Army has fought fiercely with the U.S. force.
The Sadr’s group withdrew in April its six ministers from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s cabinet mainly in protest of the government’s refusal of setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
The opposition went further in September when the group quitted the ruling coalition.
The power struggle between the two groups in the Shiite-populated and oil-rich south intensified over the past months. Two southern provincial governors associated with the SIIC were assassinated in August, although no one has claimed responsibility.
Their clashes culminated at the end of August when the Mahdi Army militia and the Iraqi security force with SIIC’s Badr Brigade as a major component exchanged violent fire in the holy city of Kalbara. The two-day clash amid a Shiite Muslim pilgrimage left some 52 people killed and more than 300 others injured.
Rejecting accusations that his militia should be held accountable, Sadr demanded a full investigation and announced a six-month ceasefire.