Unusual quiet follows deal for Najaf

By Alastair Leithead BBC correspondent in Najaf

Yesterday, it was the front line in fierce fighting.

The streets of Najaf are quiet as pilgrims approach Imam Ali mosque

Today, the streets of Najaf's old city are full of pilgrims, people who answered the call of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and marched for peace to the Imam Ali shrine.

Allowing those people into the shrine after they came to Najaf from all over the country was part of a deal brokered between the Grand Ayatollah and Moqtada Sadr, the young cleric at the centre of the uprising that has left much of the sacred city destroyed by bombs, guns and rockets.

Some members of his Mehdi Army have been seen loading their weapons onto a trolley to be taken away.

Militia obvious

They are disarming, but not disbanding, a spokesman for Mr Sadr said.

Earlier, there were small bursts of firing while the people were making their way along the roads leading to the shrine.

Mehdi Army fighters were still very obvious on the streets.

They had checkpoints where people were searched to make sure they were not carrying weapons.

There seemed to be 100 or maybe 200 of them, still armed with rocket launchers and machine guns, who were standing in the roads approaching the shrine.

The motorcade brought Ayatollah Sistani and calm to Najaf

The ceasefire began when Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani arrived in Najaf on Thursday.

It was quite noticeable because the heavy bombardment there had been in previous days stopped, and the city became quiet.

And then came the announcement that a deal had been struck. It was "three-quarters of the way there", according to a spokesman for the grand ayatollah.

There are a couple of conditions but all five points that the ayatollah came with for his peace plan have been accepted by cleric Moqtada Sadr, who was there in person.

In fact, while all the journalists were there desperately trying to get their interview from the man giving the statements, Mr Sadr sneaked out of the side door with his security men and headed back towards the old city.

Ayatollah Sistani's office and house are in the old city, which has been bombarded for many days and has been very much a battlefield.

He has been staying instead in a house nearer the outskirts and it was Mr Sadr who came to the house to broker this deal.

Unpredictable

Now it seems peace is finally returning to Najaf after three weeks of fighting.

There was peace in June, but it was short-lived.

Now the unpredictable police force have been handed control.

Even if the guns disappear, the question is whether Moqtada Sadr's insurgents will be back in the days and weeks ahead.

And will the Americans leave the area? They still have a presence here too.

Although peace seems to be very close, there are some details still to be sorted out and bridges to be crossed.

The crisis does appear to be moving ever closer to a peaceful solution, but is not there quite yet.