Militiamen loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr will begin handing over weapons to Iraqi police next week in a major step toward ending weeks of fighting with American soldiers and restoring peace in Baghdad's Sadr City district, a senior aide to the radical cleric said Saturday. Ali Smeisem said the handover of medium and heavy weapons would start Monday at three police stations in Sadr City and last for five days. Smeisem told The Associated Press that the government had already suspended raids and harassment of al-Sadr's followers as a confidence-building measure. The government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has been holding talks with tribal leaders and members of al-Sadr's movement to end the clashes in Sadr City, home to about two million people. Allawi's government wants to restore enough security to enable national elections to take place across the whole of the country in January. Similar initiatives are underway with representatives of the Sunni Muslim insurgent stronghold Fallujah.
