Iraq PM Orders End to Years-Old Baghdad Curfew

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered an end to a years-old nightly curfew in Baghdad in a bid to ease restrictions on daily life despite persistent violence, officials said Thursday.

Lifting the curfew is a major change to a longstanding policy aimed at curbing violence in the capital by limiting movement at night, which has failed to stop frequent bombings.

"The prime minister ordered that the curfew in the city of Baghdad be completely lifted starting from this Saturday," said Brigadier General Saad Maan, the spokesman for the Baghdad Operations Command.

Abadi wants there "to be normal life as much as possible, despite the existence of a state of war", his spokesman Rafid Jaboori said, referring to the battle against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.

This is "part of the response to terrorism and the war against it", he said.

A statement from Abadi's office said he had also directed that important streets in the capital be opened "to facilitate the movement of citizens", and that the Adhamiyah and Kadhimiyah neighborhoods of north Baghdad be "demilitarized zones".

The statement did not provide details on which streets would be opened, or on what the plan for the two adjacent neighborhoods -- the former mainly Sunni, the latter Shiite -- entails.

Army and police checkpoints across Baghdad cause massive traffic jams that are a major source of irritation for Iraqis, and often follow lax security procedures that are unlikely to hamper the movement of militants.

The hours the curfew has been in force have varied over the years, but it has most recently lasted from midnight to 5:00 am.

"We were restricted by this," said Ayman Hassan, a culture ministry employee, later adding: "Thank God this decision happened."

For Hassan, it is a sign that security is returning after being gone for "a long time".

Ahmed Ali, a teacher, said the decision to scrap the curfew has pros and cons -- while people will be able to move easily at night if the need arises, "the gangs will move freely" too.

Doing away with the curfew has the potential to boost business for restaurants and cafes that stay open late.

Abu Saif, owner of a central Baghdad restaurant, said he would consider remaining open later if enough people end up staying out. 

The decision to lift the curfew comes as Iraqi forces battle to regain ground from IS jihadists, who spearheaded an offensive that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad last June.

It was initially feared that Baghdad itself could be assaulted by the militants.

But federal forces that were swept aside in the early days of the offensive have regained significant territory with support from Shiite militiamen, Sunni tribesmen and U.S.-led air strikes.

In the north, forces from Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region are also making gains against IS, and evidence of atrocities probably committed by the group has been found in retaken areas.

But gains by security forces have not stopped militants from carrying out attacks in Baghdad, which they were able to do even when violence was at a low ebb in 2011-2012.

Bombs still ripped through markets, cafes and crowded intersections, and militants also frequently targeted security forces in the city.

Scrapping the curfew does away with a measure that restricted the lives of ordinary people while doing little to stop the near-daily attacks they have suffered for years.