US believes Iraq militias laying down arms

Baghdad: Iraq's once formidable Mahdi Army appears to be bowing to orders to lay down arms, but it is yet unclear if Shiite fighters are preparing another offensive with Iranian help, a US intelligence official said.

The militia, once accused of fuelling civil strife that drove Iraq to the brink of sectarian war, had fought bloody battles with US and Iraqi government forces before a ceasefire last year and a government crackdown earlier this year.

"The Mahdi Army was meant to protect the Shiite community and to provide basic needs for Shiites," a senior intelligence analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity, has said.

"There's no need [for Mahdi Army] to protect Shiites if the government is protecting them," the analyst said in an interview a day after its leader, Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr, extended indefinitely a ceasefire for his militiamen.