 Baghdad has been under curfew since Thursday
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The Iraqi government is due to lift a curfew in Baghdad, after Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr ordered his fighters off the streets of Iraqi cities.
The government said the curfew would end at 0600 local time (0300 GMT), but a vehicle ban would remain in three Shia areas of the capital.
Moqtada Sadr on Sunday told his Mehdi Army militias to stop fighting government troops.
The fighting has claimed more than 240 lives across the country since Tuesday.
'Positive' move
Moqtada Sadr's statement said: "Because of the religious responsibility, and to stop Iraqi blood being shed... we call for an end to armed appearances in Basra and all other provinces.
Moqtada Sadr told followers to "work with Iraqi government offices"
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"Anyone carrying a weapon and targeting government institutions will not be one of us."
The cleric also demanded that the government apply the general amnesty law, release detainees and stop what he called illegal and random raids.
He also told his followers to "work with Iraqi government offices to achieve security and to file charges against those who have committed crimes".
A spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, Ali al-Dabbagh, told Iraq television the statement was positive.
"As the government of Iraq we welcome this statement. We believe this will support the government of Iraq's efforts to impose security."
He also warned: "The government will be forced to implement the law against those who do not obey the instructions of the government and of Sadr."
'No resolution'
However, Hazem al-Araji, an aide to Moqtada Sadr, told reporters that the cleric's appeal to his militias would not mean handing in weapons.
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The BBC's Adam Brookes in Baghdad says this means the Mehdi Army will remain intact.
He says that although the move gives Mr Maliki a chance to claim victory, the central demand has not been met and this is not a resolution of the conflict.
The prime minister had given militias until 8 April to surrender their weapons in return for cash.
Casualties
The curfew in Baghdad had been extended indefinitely on Saturday evening, after a day of skirmishes between security forces and Shia militiamen in the capital and Basra.
Coalition forces had become more involved, with US air raids in the two cities in recent days.
Estimates vary of the number of deaths since the fighting broke out.
Fighting in Baghdad has left 117 people dead over the past three days, Iraqi police told the BBC.
In Basra, the British military has given a death toll of 50 but local medical sources report as many as 290 dead and the Iraqi army has reported killing 120 "enemy" fighters there.
Scores of people are believed to have been killed in other southern cities, according to Iraqi police or medical reports.
At least 77 people were killed in Kut, Nasiriya, Karbala and Hilla.