10/9/2004 3:30:00 PM GMT
A huge blast has rocked central Baghdad on Saturday, with white smoke seen rising from the direction of the Green Zone, where the Iraqi government offices and the U.S. and British embassies are located, witnesses said.
The cause of the explosion is still unknown and there were no immediate reports of casualties. A U.S. military spokesman said he has no information on the blast.
The Green Zone on the west bank of the Tigris river has witnessed several attacks by anti-occupation and anti-government rebels.
Al Sadr fighters disarm
Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Al Sadr decided to disarm his fighters starting next Monday, after reaching a deal on Saturday with Iraq's interim government and U.S. officials, the chief Shi'ite negotiator reported.
Karim Al Bakhati, the chief Shi'ite negotiator, said U.S. forces agreed to stop bombarding the slum area with immediate effect.
"We have agreed that starting from Monday, the Sadr movement will hand over its weapons to the Iraqi police," Bakhati said.
He said details of the handover locations in Sadr City would be worked out in the coming day or two.
Disarming Al Sadr fighters is seen a positive step toward ending weeks of fighting with U.S. forces and restoring peace in Baghdad's Sadr City district.
Bakhati said U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte and a U.S. colonel attended the meeting and asserted that the U.S. forces will stop attacking Al Sadr's Mehdi Army which has strongholds in Sadr City.
Government welcomes Al Sadr initiative
The interim government on Friday welcomed Al Sadr's proposal to disarm his fighters, however, it didn't promise to meet all his demands, which include stop harassing and detaining his followers or compensate people for losses in the fighting.
"The government welcomes the announcement by Sadr that his militia will disband, hand over their weapons, respect the authority and the unity of the state and abide by the rule of law in Iraq," said a statement by National Security Adviser Kassim Daoud, the government's chief negotiator.