Saturday, September 30, 2006
Curfew announced in Baghdad
Security
Iraq imposed a total daylight curfew on Baghdad on Saturday, banning all movement, as U.S. forces said they had foiled a possible suicide plot to attack the city's sprawling "Green Zone" government compound. U.S. troops on Friday arrested a security guard at the home of Adnan al-Dulaimi, the leader of the main Sunni political bloc, the Accordnace Front. The U.S. military said on Saturday the man was suspected of planning car bomb attacks on the fortified zone.
It said the man may have been linked to al Qaeda, and the plan might have been to use suicide vests in the attack. U.S. forces did not enter Dulaimi's house, but searched a security trailer there and the suspect's car, it said. A senior official in the Front named the arrested man as Khudhar Farhan and said he was in his mid-20s and had joined Dulaimi's security staff about a month ago. Farhan did not have a security pass to enter the Green Zone, he said.
It said the man may have been linked to al Qaeda, and the plan might have been to use suicide vests in the attack. U.S. forces did not enter Dulaimi's house, but searched a security trailer there and the suspect's car, it said. A senior official in the Front named the arrested man as Khudhar Farhan and said he was in his mid-20s and had joined Dulaimi's security staff about a month ago. Farhan did not have a security pass to enter the Green Zone, he said.
Another senior Iraqi official said the curfew was imposed because of fears of more widespread unrest after a bloody first week of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, during which the U.S. military said suicide attacks had hit a record high. The curfew would remain in place until 6 a.m. (0200 GMT) on Sunday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office said. The U.S. military said the curfew was the Iraqi government's decision, and such measures had proven effective in the past.
