Deal Reached on Truce in Sadr City

It is the NYT, so most of the story finds a way to blame the non-terrorists for the violence. Making the terrorists into innocents is the major goal of the Leftist Media.

Deal Reached on Truce in Sadr City - New York Times: "Shiite leaders in Parliament and leaders of the movement of the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr agreed to a truce early Saturday that would end more than a month of bloody fighting in the vast, crowded Baghdad ghetto of Sadr City.

The hope is to stop the bloodshed there, which has claimed several hundred lives, wounded many more and forced residents to flee the embattled neighborhood. The fighting was a test of Iraq’s Shiite-led government against powerful Shiite militias, both here in Baghdad and in Basra, to the south.

The deal would allow both sides to stand down from what was becoming a messy and unpopular showdown in the months leading up to crucial provincial elections. It is not clear who won or how long the truce would last, but at least for now it would end the internecine warfare among Shiite factions.

The agreement would give the government some control over Sadr City, a largely lawless area, and give members of Mr. Sadr’s militia who were not actively involved in the fighting a guarantee that they would not be arrested.

Parliament members involved in the deal said the gunmen had four days to withdraw."