Security measures to track down runaway prisoners

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: Security forces in Diala have taken precautionary measures lest fugitive prisoners who had escaped from a prison in neighboring Salah al-Din would reach the province, a security source from Diala said Thursday. “The measures have been taken along the borders with Salah al-Din, but concentrated at al-Idheem district, (50 km) north of Baaquba city,” the source told Iraqi News. Baaquba, the capital city of Diala province, lies 57 km north of Baghdad. Earlier, security authorities imposed a curfew on Tikrit and launched crackdown operations after the escape of 16 detained al-Qaeda organization members, according to another security source. He said that police forces imposed a curfew and a vehicle ban on Tikrit to hunt down fugitives who escaped from the city’s prison. He explained that the forces managed to arrest one of the prisoners at large in Abu Ujail area, east of Tikrit. Sixteen prisoners of al-Qaeda group managed to escape from the anti-terrorism jail in central Tikrit, including five who were sentenced to death. Tikrit, the capital city of Salah el-Din province, lies 175 km north of Baghdad. MH (S)/AmR 1