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Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi orders streets to be opened up and bans weapons in four areas in attempt to restore normalcy to the city
Iraqi policemen stand guard at a checkpoint in Baghdad. The prime minsiter has lifted the midnight to 5am curfew in the city. Photograph: Karim Kadim/AP
Associated Press in Baghdad
Thursday 5 February 2015 11.10 EST
Iraq’s prime minister has lifted a decade-old, midnight to 5am curfew in Baghdad, ordering long-blocked streets in the capital be opened up and declaring some neighbourhoods of the city weapons-free zones.
Haider al-Abadi’s measure appeared to be aimed at restoring a sense of normality in the city, where residents enjoyed a vibrant nightlife before the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
The curfew was imposed in 2004.
A government statement said Abadi had met security officials at the Baghdad military command at dawn on Thursday and ordered the curfew to be lifted from Saturday.
He also ordered that streets long blocked off for security reasons be reopened to traffic and pedestrians, and he banned the carrying of weapons in four major neighbourhoods – the Shia Kazimiya area, the Sunni Azamiya district, the Sunni Mansour area and the south-western Sayidya neighbourhood.
There was no indication of how the weapons ban would be implemented and Abadi gave no reason for the lifting of the curfew.
Baghdad still witnesses near daily attacks, including suicide and car bombings, seeking to undermine the Shia-led government’s efforts to maintain security.
The country is going through its worst crisis since the US troop withdrawal in 2011 in the wake of last year’s offensive by Islamic State (Isis).
Isis has captured large swaths of northern and western Iraq, and parts of neighbouring Syria. Iraqi forces, aided by US-led air strikes, are scrambling to win back territory.
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Iraqi policemen stand guard at a checkpoint in Baghdad. The prime minsiter has lifted the midnight to 5am curfew in the city. Photograph: Karim Kadim/AP
Associated Press in Baghdad
Thursday 5 February 2015 11.10 EST
Iraq’s prime minister has lifted a decade-old, midnight to 5am curfew in Baghdad, ordering long-blocked streets in the capital be opened up and declaring some neighbourhoods of the city weapons-free zones.
Haider al-Abadi’s measure appeared to be aimed at restoring a sense of normality in the city, where residents enjoyed a vibrant nightlife before the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
The curfew was imposed in 2004.
A government statement said Abadi had met security officials at the Baghdad military command at dawn on Thursday and ordered the curfew to be lifted from Saturday.
He also ordered that streets long blocked off for security reasons be reopened to traffic and pedestrians, and he banned the carrying of weapons in four major neighbourhoods – the Shia Kazimiya area, the Sunni Azamiya district, the Sunni Mansour area and the south-western Sayidya neighbourhood.
There was no indication of how the weapons ban would be implemented and Abadi gave no reason for the lifting of the curfew.
Baghdad still witnesses near daily attacks, including suicide and car bombings, seeking to undermine the Shia-led government’s efforts to maintain security.
The country is going through its worst crisis since the US troop withdrawal in 2011 in the wake of last year’s offensive by Islamic State (Isis).
Isis has captured large swaths of northern and western Iraq, and parts of neighbouring Syria. Iraqi forces, aided by US-led air strikes, are scrambling to win back territory.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
