By Aseel Kami
Shi'ite Sadr's spokesman Salah al-Ubaidi said the ceasefire, which expires later this month and has been vital to cutting violence in Iraq, should continue to be observed until militia members are told it is over or has been renewed.
"Any member of the Mehdi Army who conducts violent acts during the ceasefire, the Sadr office declares they will no longer be part of the Mehdi Army," Sadr said in a statement read to Reuters by Ubaidi.
Attacks across Iraq have fallen by 60 percent since June 2007 after a series of security crackdowns. A return to hostilities could seriously jeopardise those gains.
"Among Sadrist rank and file, impatience with the ceasefire is high and growing," the report said.
They said three people, including a woman and a child, were hurt, and 16 detained. A U.S. military spokesman said one person was killed and another injured in the raids.
DEADLOCKED
But several of those laws, including the 2008 budget and another that would release thousands of mainly Sunni Arabs from Iraqi jails, remained deadlocked.
Votes which had been expected on Thursday did not take place. Lawmakers have refused to ratify the $48 billion budget because of disputes over allocations, mainly the 17 percent for the largely autonomous and stable Kurdistan region.
Some fear that failure to pass the budget would hold up vital spending at a time when Washington is urging the government to take advantage of improved security and jumpstart the oil-dependent economy.
The law that would free prisoners who have not been charged with or convicted of major crimes, like murder or treason, is also seen as a step towards reconciliation because most of the 23,000 people held in Iraqi jails are Sunni Arabs.
But Luhaibi said new disagreements had delayed that law, with his bloc wanting it expanded to include provisions for new trials for prisoners who may have made forced confessions.
