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Middle East
Iraq announces border closures
Border posts with Iran and Syria to be shut temporarily, says security plan chief.
Last Modified: 13 Feb 2007 18:54 GMT
Gambar announced the temporary border closures
on state television [AFP]

Iraq is to close its borders with Iran and Syria for at least three days, Abboud Gambar, the commander of Baghdad's new security plan has said on state television.
 
Reading a statement on Tuesday, the Iraqi general said four Iranian and two Syrian border posts would be shut for 72 hours, before reopening, but that others would shut indefinitely.
The announcement followed two days of bomb attacks in Baghdad and amid accusations by US military commanders that Iran is smuggling weapons to Shia groups fighting in Iraq's sectarian conflict.
 
He did not say exactly when the borders would be closed.
Gambar, a 60-year-old Shia general, has been put in charge of a security plan that will involve dividing Baghdad into 10 districts patrolled by US troops and forces from Iraq's defence and interior ministries.
 
The force, which is expected to be 60,000 strong, will attempt to root out anti-government fighters and disarm the illegal groups carrying out sectarian attacks on the city's rival Sunni and Shia communities.
Source:
Agencies
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