The violence ended Monday afternoon after the provincial governor, accompanied by eight provincial council members, traveled to the holy city of Najaf, west of Diwaniyah, to meet with al-Sadr.

Officials said the parties reached an agreement to restore security to the province. But the exact details of the deal were unclear.

Al-Sadr's influence has been increasing in Shiite-dominated Diwaniyah, He is already popular in much of southern Iraq, notably in and around Najaf. He also wields considerable influence in some areas of Baghdad, especially in the slum of Sadr City.

Although the streets of the city were quiet Monday, an explosion at an oil pipeline south of Diwaniyah killed 20 people and injured another 20, Jabir said. A huge fire in the area was hampering rescue efforts.

The cause of the blast was unclear, but locals had been siphoning off fuel from the pipeline for years, he said.

There was trouble, however, in the town of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. Three mortars, two rocket-propelled grenades and a bomb exploded at an al-Sadr office almost simultaneously, killing two guards and destroying the building, the Diyala Province police in the city said. Baqouba is ethnically mixed but with a majority of Sunnis.

It was not immediately clear whether the violence was connected to that Diwaniyah.

Monday's violence there underlined the Shiite-led Iraqi government's difficulties in reining in the violent sectarian forces of the Mahdi Army, which had twice confronted U.S. forces in 2004, and Sunni forces opposed to it.

Al-Sadr's movement holds 30 of the 275 seats in parliament and five Cabinet posts, and the cleric's backing had helped Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki win the top job earlier this year.

Many Sunnis have expressed disappointment that al-Maliki has not moved to curb Shiite militias, especially the Mahdi Army.

American forces also have been wary of confronting the militia because of al-Sadr's influence over the government and the Shiites, who are in a majority in Iraq.

The fighting occurred as at least 19 people died in two suicide car bombings in Baghdad on Monday ¡ª one outside the Interior Ministry and one on a line of cars waiting for fuel at a gas station.

Meanwhile, the US military said Tuesday that nine U.S. soldiers were killed on Sunday, eight of them in and around Baghdad and one in fighting in Anbar province west of Baghdad. A 10th soldier died Monday of wounds sustained in a vehicle accident in Balad north of Baghdad.

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