Abdul-Hadi al-Muhammadawi, a top official with the Sadrist Movement's office Karbala, said the party is calling for dialogue through peaceful means to resolve its issues with the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Voices of Iraq reported.

He warned the Maliki government, however, against issuing any statements that may provoke the Sadrist bloc and reminded Baghdad of Sadr's call for an end to the U.S. "occupation" of Iraq or, at the very least, the development of a time table for their withdraw.

Muhammadawi also denied the Sadrist movement was behind attacks on government buildings in Basra.

Meanwhile, Bahaa al-Aaraji, the spokesman for the United Iraqi Alliance and member of the Sadrist Movement, met with Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi to discuss the status of the military wings of the Iraqi political parties.

Aaraji said in a press conference following the meeting he called on Hashimi to back the decision to disband all 28 militias in Iraq. The office of the vice president issued a response, urging Sadr loyalists to show restraint while Iraqi national forces confiscated unauthorized weapons from Shiite militias still fighting in parts of Basra and Baghdad.

In related news, unknown gunmen assassinated a senior Sadr aide, Sayyed Riyadh al-Nouri, Friday in Najaf. There have been several attempts on members of the Dawa, Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and Sadrist parties recently.

A statement on the Arabic language Web site, Barutha news, says a key member of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, Jalal al-Dein al-Saghier, escaped an assassination attempt Friday, though it was unclear if the two attempts were related.

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