Issawi: No arrests, Falluja panel to be set up

ANBAR / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Minister of Finance Rafie al-Issawi said on Sunday that arrests conducted in several areas of al-Falluja city were stopped upon orders from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. “The first step taken during an emergency meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Motlak was to stop arrests all over Falluja upon Prime Minister Maliki’s orders and then a panel representing the people in the city will be formed to offer and discuss the protesters’ demands,” Issawi told IraqiNews.com news agency. His statements dcame during the emergency meeting with Motlak, which was also attended by local officials and notables of Falluja, 60 km west of Ramadi, to discuss protesters’ demands for the Iraqi government. Issawi said all officials in the government are supporting the demands of the Iraqi street and backing peaceful demonstrations provided that they do not involve assaults on the state institutions as well as public and private property. Ramadi, the capital city of the predominantly Sunni province of al-Anbar, lies 110 km west of Baghdad. AmR (TP) 819