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| Iraq |
| Baghdad parties ahead of US pullout |
| 2009-06-29 |
| TENS of thousands of Iraqis partied amid massive security in Baghdad overnight to mark the imminent pullout of US troops from urban areas and celebrate the restive nation's reclaimed sovereignty. The American pullback, agreed under a security accord signed last year, will be completed today, which has been declared a national holiday, but soldiers and police were out in force as festivities began. "Since 2003, I have never been to a party," Ahmed Ali, 20, said as a large celebration got under way in Zawra Park, the largest in the capital, "but today I am coming to hear the singers I love." Popular Iraqi singers including Salah Hassan, Kassem Sultan and Abed Falek, who all live abroad, had travelled to Baghdad for the occasion. Revellers had to undergo three security checks to enter the park but no one seemed to complain amid a jubilant atmosphere, where an onstage banner declared Baghdad's sovereignty and independence had been recovered. Even policemen joined in the fun, dancing with the party-goers. "Today is the day that we got back our country," said Salim Mohammed, from the sprawling Shi'ite working-class district of Sadr City. From July 1, Iraq's army and police will take sole charge of security in the country's cities, towns and villages. Baghdad civil defence spokesman Tahsin al-Sheikhli said: "All Iraqis are happy today because it's the first day that they're going to protect themselves. "We know that Iraq's enemies will attempt to disrupt security but our forces are ready to take them on." |
| Posted by:tipper |