Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr voices optimism that a truce with the Iraqi government will hold, calling on his supporters to keep peace.

"A delegation of five members from the Sadr movement arrived in Sadr City with the guidance of Moqtada al-Sadr to follow up the implementation of the agreement," Sadr spokesman Salah Al-Obeidi told AFP in the central shrine city of Najaf on Friday.

"There is good cooperation between the Iraqi forces and the Sadr movement," he added.

Sadr's Mahdi Army was abiding by a truce deal clinched last week that came into effect on Wednesday in the sprawling east Baghdad district of Sadr City, a spokesman said.

In Sadr City itself, a slum area of two million people, the atmosphere was calm on Friday, and there were no reports of overnight violence.

The truce provides for Iraqi security forces to deploy in Sadr City but they have not yet moved in.

RZS/HAR