Baghdad Observer - McClatchy Newspapers

A four-day cease-fire born from an agreement reached between followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr and a government approved Shiite delegation on Friday began Sunday. The halt in violence would give residents a refuge from weeks of gun battles, rocket attacks and U.S. airstrikes between the U.S. and Iraqi forces against the Mahdi Army militia.

In an outdoor garden we ordered sweet, fresh orange juice and shared plates of chickpea dip, salads and grilled meat and chicken. For the first time in a long time we went out as an office and stayed out what would be considered late in Baghdad. We were living on the edge. We didn't get home until a whopping 8:45 p.m.

I returned to Iraq and greeted all the staffers at the hotel. One of my friends works in the cafeteria. He's a rotund young man, with a kind face and a great sense of humor. On his downtime he would read the grounds of my coffee cup to tell my fortune and joke about the rich owners of the hotel who pay them barely anything.

I have to apologize to all of you for my lapse in posts. It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks. Last Saturday I was sitting with soldiers in a powerless abandoned home in Sadr City also now known by U.S. soldiers as "Sniper City" and by Monday I was in a hotel in New York City. It was quite a surreal experience. I should be back in Baghdad next week.

I wrote a story last night about people mourning their victims in Sadr City: a child wounded by shrapnel from a U.S. military air strike, a man who lost his wife and daughter. I explained that the U.S. military was going after armed people in the area and these people were not targeted, but victims caught in this battle.

     This is the tale of two Shiite fighters buried in the same cemetery in the holy city of Najaf. In the Valley of Peace, the largest Muslim cemetery in the world, these men’s bodies were buried, blessed and mourned. One was an Iraqi soldier. The other was a Mahdi Army fighter from Muqtada al Sadr's army.

It's the second day of curfew in Baghdad. We can't go anywhere, although the government who imposed the curfew is still scheduling press conferences.