BAGHDAD — Iraqi officials said the Interior Ministry has drafted plans to erect
checkpoints around the capital. They said the ministry would also close
roads used by insurgents and smugglers in an effort to secure the city.
The ministry plans to maintain 28 checkpoints around Baghdad. Officials
said the plan also stipulated the erection of physical obstacles, including
trenches, to prevent cars from entering the city without authorization.
There are currently 21 checkpoints around the city.
The security plan for Baghdad was disclosed as the city has been
inundated by Sunni-Shi'ite violence. Last week, officials said, at least 200
people were found slain around the capital, Middle East Newsline reported.
Officials said the Interior Ministry has been cooperating with the U.S.
military. They said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would provide
consultants and select contractors for certain tasks.
"There is a series of obstacles that the Iraqi government is planning,"
U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said. "And we're working with
them, to ensure movement through checkpoints, to keep terrorists and
extremists and criminals from using those [other] routes."
Iraqi officials said the ministry's plan includes the construction of a
trench around Baghdad. But U.S. officials denied that a moat would be dug.
Baghdad has a circumference of 100 kilometers. Much of the city contains
irrigation canals.
