In a statement released by his office on Friday, Maliki said that "all raids and search operations will be stopped in all areas [to] give a chance to those who wish to lay down their arms."

The statement did not name Shiite maverick leader Moqtada Sadr's al-Mahdi Army militia, the main target of the operation launched last week in the oil-rich southern port city of Basra, which unleashed fighting with Sadr's followers across other Shiite-dominated regions in the country.

Maliki's decision to suspend the operation, in which no timeframe was specified, came just a day after he vowed to pursue more raids around the country against what he called "criminal gangs holding people and families hostage."

Analysts say the order to freeze the offensive was due to a misconception that his thousands of government troops would achieve swift success if contained within the southern province.

At the start Maliki went to Basra to personally supervise the operation that he said was intended to "restore law and order" and in which U.S. and British forces provided air and intelligence support.

But the anti-occupation al-Mahdi Army's resistance was unexpectedly fierce. Sadr's followers, complaining the crackdown was aimed at weakening their movement ahead of provincial elections in October, rose up against the army and police forces elsewhere, spreading the across the country.

The U.N. humanitarian cfor Iraq, David Shearer, said on Friday that fighting in the past week had left more than 700 people dead and another 1,500 injured. Shearer revealed the toll in a news conference in Amman, a day after he returned from Basra.

The Iraqi government estimated 461 dead. The lower figure, analysts said, was likely an attempt to downplay the repercussions of what has been described as a disorganized operation that underscored the ineffectiveness of the U.S.-trained Iraqi military and police forces.

Iraqi officials say at least 1,000 soldiers and policemen deserted their posts or refused orders to fight their countrymen, mostly out of fear of reprisals when the offensive mushroomed and was perceived as spiraling out of the government's control.

Senior Iraqi government officials revealed on Thursday that dozens of officers, including two senior field commanders, were among those who refused to fight against al-Mahdi militiamen.

Analysts say that Maliki was not expecting such an immediate and intense resistance against his operation, despite Sadr's repeated early warnings not to use force against his followers. Furthermore, the government troops undercut any public support they may have enjoyed earlier by wantonly raiding civilian neighborhoods.

Fighting in Basra subsided after Maliki announced an April 8 deadline for militiamen to surrender heavy and medium weapons in return for cash; and after Sadr, said to be residing in Iran, ordered his fighters off the streets and for the government to stop random arrests of his followers.

The prime minister returned to Baghdad this week claiming the operation in Basra was a "success" after the al-Mahdi fighters abided by Sadr's orders after six days of fighting.

But the militiamen seem to have taken their weapons with them, apparently ready to fight back if the government decides to resume its unfinished operation.

Sadr issued a new warning on Thursday, saying in a statement that although he called on his militia to stop fighting, the government crackdown on his followers was continuing.

He said the government had placed his movement in "an impossible situation by demanding" that the Sadrists "stop military and political opposition and ignore the arrests and killings."

The al-Mahdi militia is not expected to hand over its weapons come April 8, and they could emerge again the following day, the date Sadr called for 1 million people to take to the streets of Iraq to protest the U.S.-led military occupation.