Al-Sadr also called off a mass march that had been planned for Wednesday in Baghdad after hundreds of followers in Shiite areas south of Baghdad complained that Iraqi security forces prevented them from traveling to the capital.

The demonstration was supposed to mark the fifth anniversary of the capture of Baghdad by invading U.S. forces.

Despite the decision to call it off, the Baghdad military command clamped a vehicle ban on the capital, saying unauthorized cars, trucks and motorcycles would not be allowed on the streets from 5 a.m. to midnight on Wednesday. The announcement was broadcast on Iraqi state TV.

Some motorists said they were already being turned back at checkpoints as tensions were high with fierce clashes continuing in the main Shiite enclave of Sadr City.

The developments came as the top U.S. commander in Iraq Gen. David Petraeus called for an open-ended suspension of U.S. troop withdrawals this summer, asserting that an overly rapid withdrawal would jeopardize recent security gains. Petraeus made the remarks as he appeared at a Senate hearing with U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

Petraeus also said the recent flare-up of violence in Basra, in Baghdad and elsewhere underscored the importance of al-Sadr's cease-fire and highlighted the role Iran allegedly plays in funding and training Shiite militias through cells the U.S. military calls "special groups."

"Unchecked, the special groups pose the greatest long-term threat to the viability of a democratic Iraq," Petraeus said.

But al-Sadr, who faces an ultimatum by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to either disband his Mahdi Army or give up politics, issued a warning of his own on Tuesday.

"If the public interest dictates the lifting of the freeze to achieve our goals, beliefs, religion, principles and patriotism we shall do that later," he said.

U.S. and Iraqi troops have stepped up their pressure on Mahdi Army militiamen in their Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City, where fighting broke out again early Tuesday after Iraqi units tried to enter the area, a police officer said.

At least 12 people, including three children, were killed and 37 others were wounded in the fourth day of fighting, hospital officials said, declining to be identified because they weren't authorized to release the information.

Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said a total of 82 militants, 36 civilians and 37 soldiers had been killed since March 16 in fighting in Baghdad, mostly in Sadr City.

Hassan al-Rubaie, a Sadrist lawmaker, said that now that the demonstration has been canceled the government should lift its siege on Sadr City, a sprawling area that houses nearly half of Baghdad's population, and Shula, another Mahdi Army stronghold in Baghdad.

Rockets or mortar shells also slammed into the U.S.-protected Green Zone, which has faced frequent shelling in the recent unrest, but the American Embassy said no casualties were reported.

Ratcheting up the pressure on the Mahdi militia, al-Moussawi gave a three-day deadline to disarm to gunmen in Baghdad's northern neighborhood of Kazimiyah — the site of the capital's holiest Shiite shrine complex.

Al-Sadr's cease-fire, which was first imposed for six months in late August and later extended for another six-month period, has been credited with helping bring down violence. But it has been under severe strain since fighting broke out last month after the government launched a crackdown on militia violence in the southern city of Basra.

Using typical rhetoric to refer to U.S. forces, al-Sadr said the government should "protect the Iraqi people from the booby traps and American militias" and "demand the withdrawal of the occupier or a schedule for its withdrawal from our holy land."

Al-Sadr also called on followers to postpone what he had dubbed a "million-strong" march, accusing the government of trying to prevent it.

"I call on the beloved Iraqi people who want to demonstrate against the occupation to postpone their outing for I fear for them and I want to spare their blood," he said in the statement.

As a deadline for militia fighters to surrender their weapons expired, Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, who was leading continued operations in Basra, said some gunmen had complied but he could not provide a number.

Police in cities elsewhere in southern Iraq said few had surrendered their weapons and they were awaiting orders to resume raids.

Khalaf also confirmed that 1,000 Iraqi security forces had "failed to carry out their duties" and promised action against them after reports of widespread desertions during a military crackdown in Basra.

The failure of Iraqi troops to crush the militias during the operation that was personally overseen by al-Maliki has embarrassed the government and raised fresh doubts about the ability of the Iraqis to take over their own security so U.S.-led forces can go home.

A U.S. soldier died Tuesday from wounds received in a roadside explosion the night before in northeast Baghdad, raising to 11 the number of American troop deaths since Sunday.

Elsewhere, Iraqi police said a roadside bomb struck a minibus near Balad Ruz, northeast of Baghdad, killing at least six morning commuters and wounding 10 others.

Gunmen also attacked the home of a U.S.-allied Sunni tribal leader near Baqouba, 50 miles north of Baghdad, killing him and three of his sons, police said.

Sunnis who have turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq have been frequently targeted since they helped reduce violence in their areas.

Enlarge By Ahmad al-Rubaye, AFP/Getty Images Iraqi men work to extinguish a blaze caused by a U.S. rocket attack in Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Sadr City, Tuesday.

		Iraqi soldiers detain six Shiite fighters in the holy city of Karbala, Iraq, Tuesday, as U.S. and Iraqi forces continue to battle heavily armed Shiite militiamen in Sadr City. By Mohammed Sawaf, AFP/Getty Images

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