Here:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s prime minister, in a very public demonstration of his influence over the U.S. military, ordered the lifting on Tuesday of a week-old cordon around the Baghdad militia stronghold of one of his key Shi’ite allies. U.S. troops, at first apparently taken by surprise by the command, abandoned roadblocks within hours around the sprawling Sadr City slum, meeting Nuri al-Maliki’s early evening deadline. He also ordered the clearing of other checkpoints that have snarled traffic around the capital for the past week as U.S. and Iraqi forces have hunted an American soldier of Iraqi origin who was kidnapped, possibly by Shi’ite militiamen. A Maliki aide said the move, which follows days of public friction between the prime minister and U.S. officials in the run-up to next week’s U.S. congressional election, had been agreed with the U.S. ambassador and the U.S. military commander. Reporters saw U.S. troops leave positions around Sadr City, the sprawling slum controlled by the Mehdi Army militia of anti-American Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, and Iraqi forces manning others open them up to let all traffic flow freely. A crowd gathered outside the local headquarters of Sadr’s organization, some firing in the air in celebration at the end of what a senior follower called a “barbaric and savage siege” that marred last week’s Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr.