TRAS UNA REUNIÓN con Sistani para -en palabras del New York Times- "salvar la cara", los revueltos de Moqtada al-Sadr, el cleriguito borderline, han emprendido la huida de Najaf y Kufa:

Fighters loyal to Moktada al-Sadr, the Shiite radical who fashioned an army from the discontented of Iraq's slums, began to withdraw Saturday from the centers of Najaf and Kufa, where they have been battling American forces since April.

At the same time, Mr. Sadr met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric, according to widespread reports. The meeting suggested that Mr. Sadr was being given a face-saving gesture by appearing with Ayatollah Sistani, whose prestige across Iraq far exceeds that of Mr. Sadr.

Shiite leaders and American officials said the armed followers of Mr. Sadr, known as the Mahdi Army, had cleared out of many parts of Najaf, and seemed to be getting ready to leave altogether. The Shiite leaders said American forces, who encircled the city in recent weeks, had also cleared out of the city center and areas near the Imam Ali Shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam.

The withdrawal, coupled with the reported meeting of the rival clerics, gave rise to hopes that Mr. Sadr's two-month-long rebellion may be ending. At one point in early April, Mr. Sadr's forces controlled government buildings in at least six cities in southern Iraq. His fighters in Najaf and Kufa, cities where the young cleric often gives his fiery sermons, held out the longest. Hundreds of Iraqis, including scores of civilians, have been killed since the rebellion began, and shrines in Najaf and Karbala sustained damage.

"The people of Najaf are walking the streets, the cars are moving on every avenue and the Iraqi police have moved back in," said Adnan Ali, a senior official with the Dawa Party, whose leaders took part in the negotiations. "This is a good step forward."

Iraq's new prime minister, Iyad Allawi, declared in an interview that the fighting was over. "The armed presence in Najaf and Kufa has ended," he told Associated Press Television News.

[...] if it sticks, the new agreement appears to have blunted Mr. Sadr's attempt to upstage Iraq's more moderate Shiite leaders, who have largely tolerated the American occupation. Indeed, the agreement seemed to reflect the desire of Iraq's mainstream political and religious leaders to rid themselves of Mr. Sadr, evidently fearing that he would threaten their chances at the ballot box in elections next year.

(negritas mías)

Ya veis, democracy already in action, aunque sea de forma aún balbuceante. Y aún hay gente que sigue diciendo -con un regusto de racismo innegable- que los países árabes no están preparados para la democracia, y que el Islam dominante en ellos es incompatible con ésta por lo que cualquier intento de 'exportarla' está condenado al fracaso. ¿No es demasiado pronto para cantar derrota? Al fin y al cabo hay ejemplos, aunque no los que suelen venir primero a la cabeza (Turquía suele ser el primer país citado). Uno es el Kurdistán, protegido durante 12 años por Estados Unidos y Gran Bretaña para evitar que Saddam acabara su trabajo exterminador y que han sabido organizarse de forma moderna y aprovechando los recursos provinientes de la ayuda recibida. Y el otro lo tenemos mucho más cerca, pero por supuesto no es Marruecos.