Iraq: Abu Ghraib prison closure not permanent

An Iraqi Justice Ministry official today said that this week's closure of the infamous Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad is temporary and that it will be reopened once the security situation in the surrounding area is stable.
The closure is the latest chapter in the history of the prison, which during Saddam Hussein's rule was one of the main facilities for jailing and executing his opponents. After the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam, Abu Ghraib became notorious once again, for a 2004 scandal over abuses of detainees by American guards.
The prison is located on Baghdad's outskirts at the edge of the Sunni-dominated Anbar province, an area that sees frequent clashes between an al-Qaida-splinter group, known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and government forces and allied Sunni tribal militias.

Justice Minister Hassan al-Shimmari announced the closure on yesterday, saying Abu Ghraib's 2,400 inmates have been transferred to other prisons in central and northern Iraq. Al-Shimmari said it was a precautionary measure because the facility is located in "a restive area."
Ministry spokesman Haider al-Saadi said today the shutdown "is mainly because of the security situation in the surrounding area." He said renovation work was underway during the closure, and that the facility would be reopened once the work is done and "the security situation is stable."
Last July, militants attacked Abu Ghraib and another prison, setting free hundreds of inmates, including many militants. Dozens of other inmates and security personnel were killed in the attack.

Also today, insurgents carried out back-to-back suicide attacks against security forces in Anbar province's capital, Ramadi, killing at least eight, officials said.

Two suicide bombers rammed their explosives-laden cars into security checkpoints leading to the military operation command in Ramadi. Five soldiers and three police officers were killed, and 14 people wounded, said a police official.
In December, al-Qaida-inspired militants took control of parts of Ramadi and the downtown of nearby Fallujah. Since then, Iraqi government security forces and allied Sunni tribal militias have been struggling to dislodge the militants.
In Baghdad today, two car bombs targeting crowded streets with shoppers in the districts of Habibiya and al-Ameen killed at least 14 people and wounded 36 others, police said.

In the capital's northern neighbourhood of Sabaa al-Bour, meanwhile, militants barraged a military barracks with mortar rounds at dawn, killing two soldiers and wounding eight others, a police officer said. Hours later, a bomb ripped through a commercial area in the same neighbourhood, killing three people and wounding 10 others, he said.