- Title: IRAQ: Interior ministry launches clean-up campaign in Baghdad
- Date: 18th March 2009
- Summary: BAGHDAD, IRAQ (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF IRAQI POLICEMEN SWEEPING AND CLEANING STREET IRAQI POLICEMAN SWEEPING STREET IRAQI POLICEMEN CLEANING STREET POLICEMAN SHOVELLING DIRT INTO WHEELBARROW IRAQI INTERIOR MINISTER JAWAD AL-BOLANI IN WORKER UNIFORM ARRIVING TO TAKE PART IN CLEAN-UP CAMPAIGN BOLANI PAINTING SHOP WINDOW BOLANI SWEEPING STREET / JOURNALIST ASKING QUESTION VARIOUS OF FIREMEN HOSING DOWN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) IRAQI INTERIOR MINISTER JAWAD AL-BOLANI SAYING: "The Interior Ministry is exerting the utmost effort to purge society from terror groups and criminals. Therefore, it is able to contribute in a clean-up campaign in association with civil services and also in co-operation with enthusiastic citizens." VARIOUS OF IRAQI POLICEMEN SWEEPING STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ALI RAHMA , TRAFFIC POLICEMAN, SAYING: "As traffic police, we are taking part in the clean-up campaign today to help our brothers clean the streets of our beloved capital Baghdad." VARIOUS OF IRAQI FIRE FIGHTERS HOSING STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) IRAQI INTERIOR MINISTRY SPOKESMAN MAJOR-GENERAL ABDUL KARIM KHALAF SAYING "The size of the security forces is enormous in the Interior Ministry. So we can do many things besides maintain security and pursue criminals, and we will indeed do many things." VARIOUS OF POLICEMEN AND FIRE FIGHTERS WASHING STREET
- Embargoed: 2nd April 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Iraq
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA64QPTRB48WX9EB7RT8TBEL0UB
- Story Text: The Iraqi Interior Ministry launched a clean-up campaign on Thursday (March 12), to keep Baghdad's streets free of rubbish, in a move to enhance trust between citizens and security forces in the capital.
Iraqi policemen, wearing distinct worker uniforms and armed with brooms and mops, were deployed in the Karrada and Arrasat neighbourhoods of central Baghdad. Together with fire-fighters and traffic police they swept pavements, painted walls and hosed down streets.
According to Interior Minister Jawad Al-Bolani, Iraqi forces need not be limited to maintaining security and pursuing outlaws, they can play an overtly social role too, which includes keeping neighbourhoods clean.
"The Interior Ministry is exerting the utmost effort to purge society from terror groups and criminals. Therefore, it is able to contribute in a clean-up campaign in association with civil services and also in co-operation with enthusiastic citizens," Bolani told Reuters.
He added that other ministerial departments should contribute to the campaign to rebuild Iraq.
Earlier this year, Iraqi officials declared that the country will undergo a reconstruction campaign over the next few months.
Policemen who were participating in the campaign to clean Baghdad's streets expressed their readiness to service other sectors.
"As traffic police, we are taking part in the clean-up campaign today to help our brothers clean the streets of our beloved capital Baghdad," said Ali Rahma, a traffic policeman who was sweeping the street.
Iraq's 240,000 member police force hopes to assume security in Baghdad on June 2009, under a U.S.-Iraqi security pact negotiated by former President George W. Bush that took effect on January 1 2009.
"The size of the security forces is enormous in the Interior Ministry. So we can do many things besides maintain security and pursue criminals, and we will indeed do many things," said Major-General Abdul Karim Khalaf, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry.
Violence in Iraq has dropped sharply from its peak in 2006 and 2007.
U.S. president Barack Obama announced plans in February to withdraw U.S.
combat forces from Iraq. He said he would to keep a sizeable force of 35,000 to 50,000 U.S. troops to train and equip Iraqi forces and conduct limited counter-insurgency operations. Those troops must leave by the end of 2011, under the security pact.
Police say that as recently as Sunday evening (March 15), a roadside bomb struck a U.S.-backed neighbourhood patrol, wounding three people, including one guard, in the Doura district of southern Baghdad and a grenade explosion killed a militant and wounded three civilians in the Mansour district of central Baghdad.
These continued attacks raise concerns about the readiness of Iraqi forces to take control before receiving better equipment and training. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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