The military said in a statement that the security wall is "one of the centerpieces of a new strategy...to break the cycle of sectarian violence."
Iraqi soldiers stationed at checkpoints will control all access to the neighborhood of Azamiyah.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have set up barriers elsewhere in Baghdad to prevent attacks, but the current project is apparently the first to divide neighborhoods by sect.
In other news, Amnesty International says Iraq is now among the countries with the highest use of the death penalty in the world.
In a report today, the rights group said Iraq executed at least 65 people in 2006, including two women. It said only China, Iran, and Pakistan used the death penalty more frequently.
The death penalty was suspended after the U.S.-led coalition toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, but Iraqi authorities reinstated it one year later. The former Iraqi leader was himself executed in December.
(AP)
U.S. Media Starts Using 'Civil War' Label
Iraqi Prime Minister Under Fire From All Sides
U.S. Expert Discusses Prospects For Stabilization
President Says Iraq Needs Iran's Help
Saudi Arabia To Seal Off Border With Security Fence
THE COMPLETE PICTURE: Click on the image to view RFE/RL's complete coverage of events in Iraq and that country's ongoing transition.
Iraqi soldiers stationed at checkpoints will control all access to the neighborhood of Azamiyah.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have set up barriers elsewhere in Baghdad to prevent attacks, but the current project is apparently the first to divide neighborhoods by sect.
In other news, Amnesty International says Iraq is now among the countries with the highest use of the death penalty in the world.
In a report today, the rights group said Iraq executed at least 65 people in 2006, including two women. It said only China, Iran, and Pakistan used the death penalty more frequently.
The death penalty was suspended after the U.S.-led coalition toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, but Iraqi authorities reinstated it one year later. The former Iraqi leader was himself executed in December.
(AP)
On The Verge Of Civil War
On The Verge Of Civil War
The Imam Al-Mahdi Army on parade (epa)
HAS THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ BECOME A CIVIL WAR? Many observers have concluded that the tit-for-tat sectarian violence that emerged after the February 2006 bombing of a mosque in Samarra has become a full-blown civil war.... (more)
RELATED ARTICLES
U.S. Media Starts Using 'Civil War' Label
Iraqi Prime Minister Under Fire From All Sides
U.S. Expert Discusses Prospects For Stabilization
President Says Iraq Needs Iran's Help
Saudi Arabia To Seal Off Border With Security Fence
THE COMPLETE PICTURE: Click on the image to view RFE/RL's complete coverage of events in Iraq and that country's ongoing transition.
