Sadr bloc returns to parliament after demands met for consideration of U.S. withdrawal, end of UN mandate

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The political movement of Iraqi cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr said it would end a two-month boycott of parliament on Sunday, smoothing over a rift with its Shi'ite allies in the U.S.-backed government.

The Sadrists announced a boycott in November to press their demand for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and to protest against a meeting between Maliki and Bush.

"We are ending our boycott of the ministries and the parliament," Bahaa al-Araji, a senior member of the Sadrist group, told a news conference with the ruling Shi'ite Alliance.

Parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said an all-party committee would discuss calls for a timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal and the renewal of the U.N. mandate for the U.S. presence in Iraq.

"This is a new beginning," he told the news conference. "We want to say to the world that an Iraqi solution for Iraqi problems is the key, and others must support these solutions."

Read the rest at the Boston Globe

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