Curfew imposed ahead of military parade in Baaquba

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: A curfew on Tuesday morning was declared in Baaquba city in preparation for a military parade by the local police forces. “A curfew has been imposed in Baaquba since the early hours of Tuesday morning and until further notice,” a local police chief, Staff Maj. Gen. Abdelhussein al-Shamri, told IraqiNews.com. A senior Interior Ministry official, Maj. Gen. Abdelkareem Khalaf; and operations commander Staff Lt. Gen. Abdelkareem al-Rubaie will attend the parade. Diala province, a mix of Sunnis and Shiites, extends to the northeast of Baghdad as far as the Iranian border. Its capital is Baaquba, 57 km northeast of Baghdad. It covers an area of 17,685 square kilometers (6,828 sq mi). A large portion of the province is drained by the Diala River, a major tributary of the Tigris. Because of its proximity to two major sources of water, Diala’s main industry is agriculture, primarily dates grown in large Date Palm groves. It is also recognized as the orange capital of the Middle East. In January 2008 Operation Phantom Phoenix was launched in an attempt to eradicate the remnants of al-Qaeda network following the Diala province campaign between 2006 and 2007. SS (S) 1