Representatives of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr met Thursday with officials from his chief rival's party in an effort to cement a tenuous peace agreement the two signed in October after violent clashes between their followers. It was at least the second formal
overture al-Sadr has made to Abdul Aziz al-Hakim and his Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the largest Shiite political party, in less than a week.
Peace between the two - who each control powerful militias - is seen as key to preventing the outbreak of widespread fighting in oil-rich southern Iraq, where the British military recently handed over responsibility for security to Iraq's government in Basra, the last province it controlled. (AP)
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