NAJAF, Iraq - Iraqi officials and aides to a radical Shiite cleric negotiated today to end fighting that has raged in the holy city of Najaf for nine days, after American forces suspended an offensive against Muqtada al-Sadr's militia, officials said. Aides said al-Sadr was injured by shrapnel, though Iraqi officials disputed that.

In the southern city of Basra, gunmen seized a British journalist from his hotel late Thursday night, police said today. The kidnappers, almost certainly Shiite, threatened to kill him in 24 hours unless coalition forces withdraw from Najaf. It was unclear when that deadline would expire.

With negotiations ongoing, the U.S. military said it suspended offensive operations against al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, who are holed up in the city's vast cemetery and the Imam Ali shrine, one of the holiest sites to Shiite Muslims.

"We are allowed to engage the enemy only in self-defense and long enough to break contact," said Maj. Bob Pizzitola, executive officer for the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division. "That was a blanket order for everybody."

He said the militia appeared to have stopped most attacks as well, and the city appeared quieter just one day after the U.S. military announced it had begun a major offensive to rout the militants.

The U.S. Defense Department said about 2,200 Marines, along with 500 to 1,000 soldiers and an undisclosed number of U.S.-trained Iraqi troops, were involved in Thursday's offensive.

Also today, U.S. airstrikes hit Fallujah, witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The U.S. military had no immediate comment, but U.S. forces have fought with militants holed up in the city, a well-known Sunni stronghold, for months.

Najaf Gov. Adnan al-Zurufi said the talks were between Iraqi government officials and al-Sadr's representatives. National Security Adviser Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie traveled to Najaf and was joined there by Defense Minister Hazem Shalan, Iraqi officials said. U.S. officials were not involved in the talks, al-Zurufi said.

Still, the U.S. military said it was maintaining a cordon around the shrine, the cemetery and Najaf's old city, where the militants had taken refuge, Pizzitola said.

Al-Sadr, who has led an uprising against coalition troops for more than a week, was hit in the chest and leg by shrapnel as he met with militia members near the shrine early today, aide Haider al-Tousi said.

Another al-Sadr spokesmen said the cleric's condition was stable. He may be holed up with his loyalists in the compound housing the revered shrine, but aide Haider al-Tousi said he was moved to an unknown location.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry said al-Sadr was not injured and had been involved in the negotiations since this morning. Reports about his injury are "an attempt to incite others aiming at escalating the situation," a ministry statement said.

Brig. Gen. Erv Lessel, deputy director for operations for coalition forces, could not confirm reports al-Sadr was wounded.

In Basra, gunmen abducted a British journalist from the Diafa Hotel, police Capt. Hashem Abdullah said today.

Hotel staff showed a check-in form purportedly filled out by the man, who identified himself as James Andrew Brandon, 23, working for the Sunday Telegraph. It said he checked in Wednesday.

A video released today showed a man identifying himself as Brandon standing bare-chested with his head bandaged.

The "Telegraph, that's my paper," he said, turning to a masked captor. "I'm a journalist. I just write about what's happening in Iraq."

"We are the sons of the Iraqi people. We demand the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the holy city of Najaf in 24 hours, otherwise we will kill this British hostage," one masked captor said, putting a hand on Brandon's shoulder.

Kidnappers in Iraq have seized scores of hostages in recent months. Most kidnappers have been Sunni insurgents, and Shiites using the tactic would be a new development.