In what is being described as an act of growing defiance of White House demands, the Iraqi government has ordered an end to the US-blockade over Sadr City. Checkpoints came down late Tuesday following an order from Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki. US officials appeared taken aback by the announcement but later said it resulted from a meeting between Maliki, US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and General George Casey. But the New York Times reports Maliki’s office made the announcement just twenty minutes after that meeting began —–making it likely the Iraqi Prime Minister took the decision on his own. Maliki’s aides told the Associated Press he’s exerting more authority by exploiting growing American dissatisfaction with the Iraq war during the election season. Checkpoints had surrounded Sadr City since a US airstrike killed at least six people last week. The military says it’s looking for a captured soldier. But Fatah Al-Sheik, spokesperson for the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, said the US is seeking an excuse to infiltrate an anti-occupation stronghold.

Fatah Al-Sheik, spokesperson for the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr: “What Sadr City went through is another lie, similar to what the American government did when it said that there were weapons of mass destruction (in Iraq) and occupied Iraq. This time, it has another excuse, the abducted soldier, or abducted American in Sadr City. This is not true. There is no abducted American soldier but this is just an attempt to hit the city or infiltrate it.”

The end of the blockade came hours after local residents held a massive general strike.

Sadr City resident: “It is a peaceful city, there are no Al Qaeda members here and no terrorists. Why do they impose this siege on us? It has caused a hike in prices. So, we staged this protest to lift the siege by peaceful means and we will go on until the siege is lifted and we urge the government to support us.”