Baghdad under indefinite curfew for religious festival

Above: A man carries groceries home during a curfew in June. Curfews are a mixed blessing, when children can play soccer in the streets but adults find it hard or impossible to get to work.

An indefinite vehicle curfew was imposed on Baghdad from 6:00 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Saturday to maintain security for an upcoming Shi'ite religious event, an Iraqi military spokesman said.

Brigadier-General Qassim al-Moussawi said in a statement carried on Iraqi television that the curfew was put in place to protect citizens ahead of a pilgrimage to mark the birth of Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi, which falls early next week.

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