The low level "civil war within a civil war" that has been simmering between the two largest Shia militias in Iraq may be over.Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and the Badr Organization, representing the largest Shia party in Iraq, have been jostling for control of southern Iraq since Saddam was ousted. Lately, their competition erupted into violence and dozens have been killed.But now the two sides have signed a truce that may lead to a reduction in violence and even more important, more cooperation with the central government in Bagdad:In a statement, the two leaders said their aim was to maintain both the Islamic and the national interest. "The agreement is essentially a commitment of honour," a spokesman for Sadr's group Liwa Sumaysim told Agence France-Presse news agency. "The most important aspect is that it forbids both sides to engage in bloodletting against each other and against Iraqis in general." A spokesman for Mr Hakim's group, Hamid al-Saadi,...(Read Full Post)