Wednesday, 14 June 2006Tough new security measures have been put in place in Baghdad in an effort to win back control of the city's streets.
Some 40,000 Iraqi and US troops have been put on the streets. Measures include a strict overnight curfew and a vehicle ban on Fridays during prayers.
The steps came into force just after dawn, a day after President Bush flew into Baghdad and met PM Nouri Maliki.
Fears are high that al-Qaeda in Iraq is preparing new attacks after the killing of their leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Zarqawi's successor, named as Abu Hamza al-Mujahid, has reportedly vowed to defeat "crusaders and Shias" in Iraq.
Despite the extra security, a car bomb has exploded in northern Baghdad, killing at least two people and injuring seven, police said.
The new security measures will be the strictest imposed on Baghdad since the US-led invasion in 2003.
The nightly evening curfew will now begin at 2030, not 2300 as it did before, and run until 0600 the next morning.
Extra troops were posted throughout Baghdad early on Wednesday, setting up new checkpoints to secure road travel in and around the city.
Residents said they had already noticed the difference, with more vehicles being stopped and searched and long queues building up as a result.
So far, it is mainly Iraqi rather than American troops visible on the streets. That is how the Americans want it, says our Baghdad correspondent Andrew North, as they are keen to see the Iraqi authorities take over full responsibility for security as quickly as possible.
Insurgents are to be targeted by snap raids, with the majority of resources deployed to the most dangerous areas of Baghdad.
Officials sounded optimistic about the changes: "The terrorists cannot face such power," said Gen Mahdi al-Gharrawi, head of the interior ministry forces.
The new Iraqi prime minister is keen to demonstrate that he can get a grip on security in Baghdad, our correspondent says.
But the question among Iraqis is whether this is just a show of force or whether it can make a dent in the daily bombings and shootings that claim at least 20 to 30 lives in the capital every day.
Determination
Mr Bush's surprise visit to Baghdad on Tuesday gave Mr Maliki just five minutes' warning that the US president was in town.
"Iraq's future is in your hands," Mr Bush told the Iraqi prime minister.
The US president had been chairing talks in the US on future policy in Iraq and had been due to speak to Mr Maliki via videophone.
Instead Mr Bush personally congratulated him on the appointment of ministers in the Iraqi government for defence, security and the interior.
Mr Bush told reporters afterwards that Iraq would continue to receive Washington's support.
"When America gives its word, it will keep its word," he said. "It's in our interest that Iraq succeeds."
For his part, Mr Maliki said he hoped the suffering of Iraq would come to an end and all foreign troops would return home.
Mr Bush travelled to Baghdad amid the same exceptional security and secrecy that surrounded his trip to meet US troops in November 2003.
He returned to Washington early on Wednesday morning.
Most foreign leaders have made their visits to Iraq unannounced because of the security threats.
BBC News
June 14, 2006 |
Wednesday, 14 June 2006
Iraq
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