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The Kurdistan regional government’s interior
ministry in Sulaimaniyah has announced a range of
tough security measures including a traffic ban.
Major General Ahmad Musa, the Kurdish region’s
deputy interior minister, said on January 23 that
people would not be allowed to drive by car between
towns within the Kurdish region, which comprises
Dahuk, Arbil and Sulaimaniyah provinces, or to other
parts of Iraq, from January 27 until election day.
Traffic within the Kurdish region will be banned for
a further 24 hours during the polls on January 30,
although it has yet to be announced when that
restriction will end.
A special committee within the interior ministry
will oversee the extra measures. “During the
election period, our ministry will be following a
special plan and will place the internal security
forces, the police, the interior defence battalion
and the emergency call centres on high alert,” said
Musa.
Interior Minister Othman Haji Mahmood advised
residents of Kurdistan to remain in the towns where
they are registered to vote, in case the movement
ban makes it hard to travel to polling stations.
The Sulaimaniyah administration, under the Kurdistan
government, is controlled by the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan, which runs this part of Kurdistan. The
Kurdistan Democratic Party, based in Arbil, controls
western areas, but the security measures announced
by the interior ministry apply to the whole Kurdish
region.
The steps taken by the Kurdish authorities mirror or
complement the Iraqi interior ministry’s January 22
announcement of a range of security measures
including road travel restrictions, a three-day
holiday, and the closure of Baghdad’s international
airport.
No bylines are given because of concerns for the
security of IWPR reporters.
http://www.iwpr.net
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