Defense-interior commission to receive green zone

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: An Iraqi interior ministry official said a security commission was set up to receive Baghdad’s heavily-fortified green zone from the U.S. forces early next year. “The Iraqi security forces will take over protection of the government’s centers and utilities in the zone,” Maj. General Abdelkareem Khalaf, the director of the interior ministry’s National Command Center, told IraqiNews.com on Thursday. The official spokesman for the Fardh al-Qanoon (law imposing) security plan, Maj. General Qassem Atta, had said earlier that the Iraqi security forces are ready to receive security responsibilities in Baghdad, including the green zone, home to many sensitive government departments, the cabinet, parliament and the U.S. and British embassies as well as al-Rasheed Hotel. AmR (P) 1