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Iraq PM orders halt to Baghdad wall

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki has ordered a halt to the construction of a wall around Al Adhamiyah, a Sunni enclave surrounded by Shiite areas in Baghdad.

  • Agencies
  • Published: 00:00 April 23, 2007
  • Gulf News

  • The US military has defended the construction of the wall around Al Adhamiyah neighbourhood, saying it will protect residents from sectarian violence.
  • Image Credit: AP
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Baghdad: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki has ordered a halt to the construction of a wall around Al Adhamiyah, a Sunni enclave surrounded by Shiite areas in Baghdad.

"I oppose the building of the wall and its construction will stop. There are other methods to protect neighbourhoods," Al Maliki said on Sunday. "I asked yesterday that it be stopped and that alternatives be found to protect the area."

Criticism has mounted over the construction of the wall, which the US military said will protect residents from sectarian violence.

Sunni leaders and residents said it will only serve to isolate them and divide Baghdad along sectarian lines.

Lieutenant-General Abboud Qanbar defended the scheme. "The barriers can be modified or removed at any time ... the purpose of these barriers is to provide security," he said.

US troops have begun placing six-tonne sections of wall around Adhamiyah. When finished, the wall will be up to 3.5m high with military checkpoints at entrances.

US officials had said the districts of Amiriya, Khadra, and East and West Rashid will also become "gated communities".

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