Najaf militants surrender shrine

A peace deal to end clashes in Najaf appears to be holding, as Shia rebels leave the Iraqi city's Imam Ali mosque and US forces pull back.

The deal was mediated by Iraq's top Shia leader, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, to end three weeks of fighting.

The city was peaceful on Friday morning as thousands of Shia pilgrims thronged the Imam Ali mosque.

But at least 10 "charred and bloated" bodies have been found at a court run by Najaf revolt leader Moqtada Sadr.

The deputy police chief in Najaf said his officers had discovered a building containing the remains of people "convicted" by the court.

A correspondent for the Associated Press news agency said he saw about 10 charred and bloated bodies in the court building, including one of an elderly woman.

Police said the bodies belonged to police and civilians, but a court official said they were militants killed in recent fighting.

Melting away

Iraqis had come to Najaf from all over Iraq, heeding a call by Mr Sistani to converge on the city.

Some wept and kissed the walls of the shrine as they entered.

Loudspeakers within broadcast a call by Mr Sadr for his followers to leave the complex.

Correspondents say many of the fighters melted away with the worshippers as they left the shrine in the early afternoon.

Dozens of militants were seen piling their weapons on to carts.

However, a reporter for the AFP news agency said some fighters were carrying Kalashnikovs home in plastic bags and heavier weapons wrapped in canvas were being hidden in private houses in the old city.

The BBC's Alastair Leithead in Najaf says US forces have been withdrawing from the area around the Imam Ali shrine. Under the agreement struck on Thursday night, they must leave the city altogether.

The Reuters news agency quoted witnesses as saying that Iraqi police were taking control of the area around the shrine.

Mr Sadr is reported to have handed over control of the shrine.

Sadr return?

The Najaf deal came after Ayatollah Sistani returned to Iraq from the UK, where he had been receiving medical treatment.

Our correspondent notes that an earlier peace agreement in June was short-lived. It remains to be seen, he says, whether Mr Sadr's supporters will be back in the days and weeks ahead.

The deal negotiated with Moqtada Sadr has been welcomed by the US-backed interim government in Baghdad as a "great victory".

But a spokesman for Mr Sadr stressed that the fighters were disarming, not disbanding.

A spokesman for the interim government, Qassen Daoud, said Mr Sadr's supporters would be welcome to join the political process and Mr Sadr would be allowed to remain free.

Iraqi doctors say hundreds of people were killed or injured in the 22-day stand-off.