NAJAF, Iraq, Sept 9 (AFP) - Iraqi forces searched the Najaf office of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr Thursday for the first time since a bloody standoff ended last month, in a sign of easing tensions in the holy Shiite city.
"It has been agreed that the Sadr office would be searched, along with its immediate surroundings," deputy Najaf governor Talal Bilal told AFP.
"The search was conducted and the members of the Sadr office were very cooperative," he said, adding that weapons were found and confiscated.
"Six Iraqi national guards are searching the office right now... following an agreement with Sheikh Ali Smeism," Sadr spokesman Sheikh Ali Shabani said.
He told AFP that Smeism, Sadr's top aide in Najaf, accepted the move after a tour of Iraq during which he discussed the future of his movement with various leaders.
Iraqi forces had surrounded the office several times in recent days demanding access to the premises to conduct a search but clerics loyal to Sadr had consistently refused.
The office is located across the street from one of the entrances to Imam Ali mausoleum, an area that was the scene of weeks of bitter fighting pitting Sadr's Mehdi Army against US troops.
Since a deal brokered by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to end the standoff in late August, Iraqi forces have been combing the area for the militia's weapons.
Sadr has since ordered his men to silence their guns and announced his movement would enter the political arena.