BAGHDAD, March 30, 2008 (AFP) - Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Sunday ordered his fighters to withdraw from the streets of all neighbourhoods where his militiamen are engaged in fierce clashes with security forces.
Sadr representatives and Iraqi officials, meanwhile, held talks to contain the fighting that has killed nearly 300 people in almost a week.
The fighting erupted on Tuesday in the southern oil hub of Basra and spread to the Sadr City slums of Baghdad and other Shiite towns, prompting Iraqi authorities to impose curfews.
The following is a timeline of the crackdown on Sadr's Mahdi Army militia:
MARCH 24
- The Mahdi Army calls a strike in parts of west Baghdad to protest the arrest of members.
- Prime Minister Nur al-Maliki goes to Basra to oversee a crackdown on the militia.
- Curfew imposed on Basra. Mahdi Army militants take up positions at the entrances to neighbourhoods they control.
MARCH 25
- Iraqi security forces launch operation against Al-Tamiyah, a Mahdi stronghold in Basra. Seven people are reported killed and 48 wounded. The police say 218 militiamen are arrested.
- Sadr warns he will launch protests, a nationwide strike and "general civil disobedience" if attacks against his militia do not end.
- Hundreds of his supporters demonstrate in the Shiite neighbourhood of Al-Amel in southwest Baghdad.
- Curfews are declared in the cities of Hilla, Kut, Samawa and Nasiriyah. Two civilians are killed in fighting in Hilla.
- Clashes erupt between US troops and Shiite militias in Sadr City, and other Shiite districts in the capital.
MARCH 26
- New fighting breaks out between US-Iraqi troops and the Mahdi Army in Sadr City. At least 20 are killed and 115 wounded over two days, the Red Cross and security forces say.
- New clashes in Basra, where seven people are killed.
- Maliki gives Shiite gunmen 72 hours to surrender their weapons.
- Sadr proposes negotiations and calls on Maliki to leave Basra.
MARCH 27
- At least 105 people have been killed since the clashes first erupted, according to an AFP tally based on reports by security officials.
- Sadr followers protest in Baghdad against the crackdown.
- One of Iraq's two main oil export pipelines is blown up near Basra.
- The government holds talks with Sadr aides.
- Maliki vows to continue the assault against militants in Basra.
- The authorities impose a total curfew in Baghdad until March 30.
MARCH 28
- US-led coalition jets bomb militia positions in Basra overnight.
- Maliki offers cash to Basra residents who surrender their arms with deadline extended to April 8.
- Parliament holds an emergency session on the Basra crisis.
- The US-led coalition closes border with Iran to prevent weapons getting through to militiamen.
- The toll rises to almost 180 people killed across the country since March 25, according to an AFP tally based on reports from security and medical sources.
- US President George W. Bush calls Iraq's crackdown on the Mahdi Army a "defining moment in the history of a free Iraq" and a key test for Maliki's government.
MARCH 29
- The toll rises to almost 230 people since March 25, according to an AFP tally based on security reports. Unconfirmed reports put it much higher.
- Fighting continues in Basra for the fifth straight day and spreads to other Shiite areas, including the holy central city of Karbala.
- Baghdad remains under curfew for the second straight day.
- Sadr's followers reject a call by Maliki to surrender their arms, a top aide says.
- Maliki vows to press on with crackdown and describes militiamen as "worse than Al-Qaeda."
MARCH 30
- Sadr representatives and Iraqi officials continue started on Saturday to end the fighting, an aide to Sadr said.
- A team of US special forces join the battle in Basra, the military says.
- Basra and Baghdad are still crippled by a curfew.
- More than 270 people have been killed since Tuesday, including at least 90 dead in Baghdad.
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