(2004-05-27) — A reported truce proposal from revered Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr calls for U.S.-led Coalition forces to pull out of the embattled holy city of Najaf, postpone a murder trial for Mr. al-Sadr and to build several new mosques because the cleric’s militia has “run out of room to store holy weapons.”

“Our most holy places are jammed to the rafters with sacred AK-47s, blessed RPG shoulder-launchers and ‘Allah’s own’ improvised explosive devices (IEDs),” according to a letter from Mr. al-Sadr to the Iraqi Governing Council. “With all of these spiritual armaments stacked about, it’s difficult for the muezzin to get a clean shot at a HumVee from the window of a minaret…in the name of Allah, the just and merciful.”

An Iraqi Governing Council spokesman said, “This is the deal we have been waiting for. Once we appease our brother al-Sadr, and construct the new holy depots and bunkers…that is to say, mosques…we can enjoy everlasting peace.”