Iraq's Shiite cleric suspends militia activities

Iraq's firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Tuesday suspended activities of his militias indefinitely.

The move came as a gesture for other parties to follow suit and suspend their armed forces after the assassination of a Sunni cleric and ten of his tribesmen by un identified militiamen, al-Sadr said in a statement.

Late Friday, unknown gunmen attacked a two-car convoy carrying Sheikh Qassem Sweidan al-Janabi and his nephew, lawmaker Zaid al-Janabi, according to security sources, adding that Zaid was later released after being beaten hard.

The victims were intercepted by a fake checkpoint in the Shiite district of Abu-Dsher in southern Baghdad, and then taken to an unknown place. Their bodies were found in another Shiite district in northeastern Baghdad later.

On Saturday, Iraq's Sunni lawmakers decided to boycott parliament sessions to protest the killing of the Sunni tribal leader.

They accused Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the ministers of interior and defense of being responsible for the attack. The Sunni lawmakers were implying that one of the Shiite militias were behind the attack.

In a statement, al-Sadr called on the Sunni political blocs "to show self-restraint, not to withdraw from the political process, and pledged to cooperate with the concerned authorities to reveal those who are behind such heinous crime."

The militias, suspended by Sadr, are also involved in the battles against the Islamic State (IS) militants in the predominantly Sunni provinces of Salahudin, Diyala nd Anbar.

However, the statement did not say whether the two militias will suspend their engagement in the fight against the IS.

Sadr statement also came as the three top Iraqi officials; President Fuad Masoum, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jubouri are preparing to hold a meeting to discuss a controversial move to disarm all illegal militias that are under the control of some leading political parties.

But Such decision has been strongly rejected by some Shiite parties who argue that the presence of their militias is necessary as long as the Iraqi security forces still needed the militias' support to stop the advance of the IS militants. Enditem