A chink amid the gloom

摘要

Hundreds of gun owners have been converging on police stations in Sadr City, the rebellious Shia slums of northeastern Baghdad, to give up arms for cash. Some came with plastic bags of rocket-launchers, others with carloads of mortar rounds. But many others simply wanted to know the price they could get for their private arsenals. Still, for the militiamen of Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army even to consider selling off their weapons suggests they may not be bent on using them in the immediate future against American troops or Iraqi police or soldiers loyal to the interim government. Some militiamen admitted that they hated to surrender the arms-a badge of honour for many Iraqi families. But they said they had to obey Mr Sadr and turn themselves from a fighting militia into a peaceful political movement. If this actually happens, it will hugely buoy hopes that Iraq's government and its American backers can bring Iraq to a more-or-less credible election in January.