Green Zone open to public
REOPENING COMES ON ANNIVERSARY OF DAESH’S DEFEAT IN IRAQ
Heavily fortified zone in Baghdad reopens after 15 years |
The blast walls and barbed wire came down. The checkpoints went away.
Fifteen years after it was sealed off, the heavily fortified neighbourhood in the heart of Baghdad was opened to the public on Monday.
The neighbourhood, known as the Green Zone, had been cordoned off by the United States military in 2003 to protect it from bombings during the war. The four-square-mile (6.4 square km) patch of land contained Saddam Hussain’s palaces, which later housed the headquarters of the US occupation authorities and military, and the parliament building — the seat of the new Iraqi government.
But its history and isolation made it a potent symbol, first of the US occupation and later of the alienation felt by many Iraqis towards their own government. And Iraqi leaders have been promising to reopen it since the US military withdrew in 2011.
The reopening came on the anniversary of Iraq’s recapture of its northern city, Mosul, from Daesh, and officials said it would be a trial opening over the coming two weeks. Traffic was allowed on main thoroughfares, but many side roads, where officials live and work, remained closed, and government buildings such as the parliament and Saddam’s old Republican Palace remained under heavy guard.
Is this the first time it has been opened?
No. It is the second time in three years that Iraqi officials declared the Green Zone reopened, and there is no guarantee this reopening would last either. The government reopened it in 2015 for only a few days, before closing it again after strong opposition from US officials, whose embassy and military headquarters were inside.
This time, the government has promised the reopening will be permanent.
Last month, the government began taking down miles of towering concrete blast walls that surrounded the area, and blocked off many official buildings, former palaces, embassies and villas inside. The reopening had been scheduled for November 25, but was postponed.
The reasons were not clear, but it was widely believed the US government and military had opposed the reopening.
How does the US feel about it?
A spokesman for the US military in Baghdad, Col Sean J. Ryan, said reports that the US opposed reopening the Green Zone were incorrect and there was no immediate risk to US personnel in the Green Zone.
“It’s a temporary, let’s-seehow-it-goes situation right now,” he said. “We’re here at the invitation of the government of Iraq, and they’re a sovereign nation. If that’s a decision they want to take, they can. But we’re always pretty vigilant with security.”
There has been no change to the heavy fortifications around the US Embassy, which lies on the southern edge of the area, but on Monday, US soldiers were seen standing beside now-idle Green Zone checkpoints where no one previously could enter without biometric badges and vehicle passes.
The area was heavily protected during Saddam’s regime because of the palaces and residences for himself and family members, but it was not blocked off, since two of the capital’s busiest thoroughfares, Haifa Street and 14th of July Boulevard, traversed it.
On Monday, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi made a televised address to celebrate the anniversary of the defeat of Daesh in Mosul, but he did not address the reopening of the Green Zone.
“Iraq reclaimed its lands, and the people reclaimed their will, and the citizens reclaimed their dignity, and all of us said no to terrorism and no to extremism and no to despotism, and we said yes to Iraq and yes to civilisation and yes to citizenship,” he said.
What is the significance of the timing?
Monday was declared a national holiday, Victory Day, and a moment of silence was observed at noon.
Despite the celebration, Daesh still holds a small pocket of territory on the SyriaIraq bourder, carries out up to 75 attacks a month throughout Iraq, and is operating underground in many parts of the country.
Attacks in Baghdad have
We’re here at the invitation of the government of Iraq, and they’re a sovereign nation. If that’s a decision they want to take, they can. But we’re always pretty vigilant with security.”
Col. Sean J. Ryan | Spokesman for the US military
become relatively infrequent, however, and the death toll, while still worrisome, has declined.
What will the immediate impact be?
The most immediate impact of Monday’s opening would be to ease Baghdad’s chronic traffic jams, as Haifa Street and 14th of July Boulevard were major east-west and northsouth arteries for the city of eight million people.
A taxi driver, Mohammad Khalid, 28, who drove through the zone on Monday, said he was pleased at the improved traffic flow, but otherwise disappointed.
“I thought all of the Green Zone would be opened, not just parts of it,” he said. “I think it was just to show it to the media.”
Sayyid Ali Mohammad, a businessman, also visited. Although he was 32, he said: “I am seeing the Green Zone for the first time in my life. How is it possible, I’m standing here? Standing at the square where Saddam used to stand and salute people.”
Now that the US-era blast walls are down, many visitors also want to do away with the US name.
“I hated the name Green Zone,” said Mahdi Al Karkhi, head of Iraq’s football federation. Until the neighbourhood regains its original name, he said, the reopening will never be complete. “They should call it Al Shawka again, and soon, inshallah.”