BAGHDAD, March 13 (UPI) -- The chief U.S. commander in Iraq says about 700 followers of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are being detained and some militant leaders have fled Baghdad.
Gen. David Petraeus said confrontations between al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and coalition forces have decreased amid talks between al-Sadr's political organization and the Iraqi government aimed at disbanding the militia, USA Today reported Tuesday.
"I think in part one reason that al-Sadr's militia has been lying low ... is due to some of the discussions being held," Petraeus said. "It's also in part due to some of the leaders leaving Baghdad" and others being arrested, he said.
Petraeus said the 700 arrested members of the Mahdi Army include some top-ranking members as well as rank-and-file militants. The arrests are part of the latest effort by coalition forces to decrease sectarian and insurgent violence in the Iraqi capital.
The Pentagon said sectarian violence between Baghdad's Sunnis and Shiites has decreased in recent weeks but bombings and other attacks carried out by Sunni insurgents have not slowed.
