Iraq's prime minister, in a very public demonstration of his influence over the US military, ordered the lifting on Tuesday of a week-old cordon around the Baghdad militia stronghold of one of his key Shia allies.
US troops, at first apparently taken by surprise by the command, abandoned roadblocks within hours around the sprawling Sadr City slum, meeting Nuri al-Maliki's early evening deadline.
He also ordered the clearing of other checkpoints that have snarled traffic around the capital for the past week as US and Iraqi forces have hunted an American soldier of Iraqi origin who was kidnapped, possibly by Shia militiamen.
A Maliki aide said the move, which follows days of public friction between the prime minister and US officials in the run-up to next week's US congressional election, had been agreed with the US ambassador and the US military commander.
Reporters saw US troops leave positions around Sadr City, the sprawling slum controlled by the Mehdi Army militia of anti-American Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, and Iraqi forces manning others open them up to let all traffic flow freely.
A crowd gathered outside the local headquarters of Sadr's organisation, some firing in the air in celebration at the end of what a senior follower called a "barbaric and savage siege" that marred last week's Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr.
Maliki and US officials have been at odds for the past week ahead of November 7 elections that could cost US President George W. Bush's Republicans control of Congress.
Maliki has rejected US pressure to set a timetable for disbanding militias led by fellow Shias and has demanded a freer hand to command the new Iraqi armed forces. "The Commander in Chief, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, has ordered the lifting of all barriers and checkpoints to open roads and ease traffic in Sadr City and other districts of Baghdad," a statement from Maliki's office said.
"Coalition forces have seen the order," the main US spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver said. "Our commanders are determining how coalition forces can best address the prime minister's concerns about checkpoint operations."
Sadr's Mehdi army, blamed by the US military and minority Sunni leaders for kidnappings and death squad killings, had ordered the two million people in the area to stay at home and shops to close in protest.
Violence In the latest bout of mayhem in Iraq, police said more than 40 people were missing after a mass kidnap attack on minibuses travelling to Baghdad from the north. The killings of two more soldiers took the US military death toll for October so far to 103, the highest since it reached 107 in January last year.
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