On Tuesday, an eight-person delegation from the conference traveled to Najaf to present a peace proposal to al-Sadr. It demanded the cleric's militia disarm, leave the Imam Ali Shrine where it has taken refuge, and transform itself into a political party in exchange for amnesty.
Al-Sadr declined to meet the peace delegation, and earlier Wednesday Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan said the government could raid the shrine within hours to push out the militants.
On Wednesday evening, however, Safiya al-Suhail, an independent Shiite delegate at the conference, said she had received a letter from al-Sadr's Baghdad office saying he accepted the proposal.
"Muqtada al-Sadr has agreed on the conditions set by the National Conference," she said reading the letter to the conference.