Najaf, Iraq ? U.S. forces suspended a major offensive against militants in Najaf on Friday, and aides to Muqtada al-Sadr told Iraqi negotiators that radical Shiite cleric was prepared to disarm his followers in exchange for a list of demands including an American withdrawal from the holy city and amnesty for all his fighters.

The negotiations to end nine days of clashes in Najaf came as al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia appeared to stop most attacks in the city.

Before the pause in the fighting, aides to the cleric said al-Sadr was slightly injured early Friday, suffering shrapnel wounds to the face, chest and shoulder as he met with followers near the revered Imam Ali Shrine, where many of the militants were hiding.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said he could not confirm that al-Sadr was wounded.

U.S. troops and Iraqi officials want to ensure that any new truce would eliminate the flaws of the previous agreements, including one that ended a two-month uprising in early June. Militia members repeatedly violated that cease-fire, shooting at police and burying caches of weapons in Najaf’s vast cemetery and using the time to regroup, according to U.S. officials and witnesses.

In Washington, Powell said he hoped the insurgent leader would respond “in due course” to charges placed against him by Iraqi authorities. An Iraqi judge has released an arrest warrant for al-Sadr in connection with the death of a moderate Shiite leader, Abdul Maid al-Khoel, in April 2003, two days after the fall of Baghdad. Al-Sadr denies any role in the murder.

Powell denounced al-Sadr and his militia as outlaws and said U.S. forces were “squeezing” Najaf in an effort to end the fighting.

U.S. officials were not involved in Friday’s talks, Iraqi officials said. Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie and Defense Minister Hazem Shalan were among the officials negotiating with al-Sadr’s aides.

One of the cleric’s assistants, Ahmed al-Shaibany, described the talks as “serious and positive, but difficult.”

Another, Sheik Ali Smeisim, said al-Sadr wanted a U.S. withdrawal from Najaf, the freeing of all Mahdi Army fighters in detention and an amnesty for the militants, among other demands, in exchange for his disarming his followers and ending the fighting.

Despite the talks, al-Sadr lashed out at the United States, which he said was intent on “occupying the whole world.” The fiery sermon was read on his behalf during Friday prayers at the Kufa Mosque near Najaf.

“The presence of occupation in Iraq has made our country an unbearable hell,” he said, calling on Iraqis to rebel, “because I will not allow another Saddam-like government again.”

Najaf, which had rattled with explosions and gunfire since Aug. 5, was quiet by Friday afternoon. U.S. tanks were seen pulling back from some streets, and no U.S. or Iraqi forces were visible in the city center. The U.S. military said it was maintaining a loose cordon around the Old City, the cemetery and the Imam Ali Shrine.

The Americans had announced the start of a major offensive to rout the insurgents Thursday, and the fighting in the city had threatened to infuriate Iraq’s Shiite majority.

“We do not in any way wish to get involved with the mosque,” Powell said. “It’s a very holy place for all Shia.”

The U.S. military said it suspended offensive operations at 7 a.m. Friday because of the truce talks.

Despite the tacit cease-fire, Iraqis held demonstrations Friday in support of al-Sadr in cities across the country. In Baghdad, thousands of protesters, including some police officers, gathered outside the fortified enclave housing the U.S. Embassy and government offices and prayed in the street.