Shiite militiamen start to hand hundreds of weapons in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr's militia was handing in hundreds of weapons in the Iraqi capital, as hopes were buoyed for a fledlging initiative to end the rebellious preacher's months-long revolt.
As the Shiites gave up their arms, the US military launched two air strikes on the rebel-held city of Fallujah and raided mosques in nearby Ramadi -- in the heartland of the Sunni Muslim insurgency.
Dozens of Sadr's Mehdi Army militiamen and arms dealers lined up outside the Al-Jazayer police station to sell back their weapons to Iraqi police on the second day of a five-day period for the fundamentalist movement to disarm in its Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City.
Cars were backed up and men walked up, lugging bags of Kalashnikovs. A beat-up grey jeep unloaded 250 Kalashikovs onto a national guard pick-up truck and were expected to fetch more than 200 dollars each.
Iraqi officers professed hopes that six months of clashes in the over-crowded slum of Sadr City between the Mehdi Army and US troops might finally be coming to an end.
"Hundreds of medium to heavy-sized weapons have been handed in. So far I would say it safely exceeds 1,000," Sadr City national guard commander Colonel Mehdi Zayer told AFP.
"It's going to be busier today. I don't care where the weapons are coming from. It's less bullets on the street to kill my men."
One Sadr foot soldier leaning against a wall with Kalashnikovs to hand in warned the US-backed Iraqi government not to forsake the young cleric's movement.
"When Sayed Moqtada said hand over your weapons, we must obey the order, let us see if the goverenment is going to fulfill it's part of the deal," said Riad Saddam, 30.
"Its a matter of honor to hand over your weapon in Iraq, so if they don't keep their word they would be dishonouring me."
Under the terms of the deal, described as a loose verbal pact, there is a five-day test period for the weapons surrender after which the Iraqi army will move in and patrol Sadr City, where the Shiite militia has ruled by the gun for months.
The Iraqi government has also offered to free some detained Sadr supporters and Sadr has hinted he might silence his guns permanently and convert his movement into a political party.
The US side was cautiously optimistic that the Mehdi Army, a thorn in its side for months, might finally be spent as a twin threat along with the country's deadly Sunni Muslim insurgency.
"It's getting under control and it's a hell of lot better than it was two months ago. I'm not saying it's over. Sadr is a pretty flighty guy, but he's going to be dealing from a heck of a lot weaker position if he wants to go back to war," a senior US official told AFP.
On the ground, the US battalion commander for Sadr City, Lieutenant Colonel Gary Volesky, warned Monday that his men reserved the right to carry out raids and arrests, keeping up the pressure on Sadr to stick to the agreement.
With US forces freed to concentrate on the Sunni insurgency, warplanes struck Fallujah twice early Tuesday.
The first raid at 12:01 am (2101 GMT) targeted the Al-Haj Hussein restaurant in central Fallujah, famous across central Iraq for its kebabs. The US military described it as as a known meeting place for Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi's radical Unity and Holy War group.
The raid killed four people and wounded six, including employees of the restaurant, hospital sources told AFP.
The restaurant, located on the main road that divides Fallujah between north and south, was completely destroyed. Bulldozers were brought in to clear away debris in the hope of finding bodies.
Four hours later US aircraft again struck the battle-scarred city, considered a hub for insurgents, destroying a suspected Zarqawi hideaway, the military said.
US forces have intensified their blistering air strikes on Fallujah since September, saying they are seeking to restore law and order in Iraq by elections planned for January 2005.
Further west in Ramadi, US marines and Iraqi forces kicked off pre-dawn raids Tuesday on at least seven mosques, prompting firefights in the city that left two Iraqis dead, the military and hospital sources said.
The influential Sunni Muslim Committee of Muslim Scholars, which represents around 3,000 mosques across Iraq, accused the Americans and Iraqis of arresting their representative for Al-Anbar province, Sheikh Abdul al-Aleem al-Sadi, and his son in the pre-dawn raids.
The organisation, the preeminent Sunni Muslim voice in Iraq, said the troops had raided 30 mosques across Ramadi, but the marines had no immediate confirmation.
Elsewhere, Iraqi police arrested a suspected member of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terror group in Najaf, the Shiite shrine city's police chief said.
And 10 former Turkish hostages, whose liberation was announced on Sunday, arrived in Baghdad, where they were introduced to the press.
The men appeared in good health, and the company's manager vowed the Vinsan construction firm would stay in Iraq, defying the Islamic militant group that kidnapped its workers.