CCTVs to be set up to enhance security in Basra

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: The Basra provincial council decided on Thursday to set up closed-circuit TV (CCTVs) to enhance security and prevent any breaches, according to the council’s information director. “The surveillance cameras will stand in different areas of the city in a bid to provide stability and security on the streets of the province,” Hashim Lei’bi told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The project, approved by the cabinet, envisages the installation of 120 CCTVs all over the city,” he added. On Wednesday (Aug. 25) a blast took place near a police station in the area of Umm al-Baroum in central Basra, leaving 11 persons, including five policemen, wounded. On Aug. 7, three blasts from two improvised explosive devices and a car bomb occurred in unison, leaving 220 people killed or wounded, according to medics. “The 3.200-billion-dinar project is expected to take place soon without the need for red tape and official approvals,” Lei’bi added. Ten Iraqi provinces, including Basra, came under consecutive attacks with car bombs, IEDs and rockets, killing and wounding dozens. The attacks took place just one week ahead of U.S. combat forces’ departure from Iraq by the end of August 2010 commensurate with the status of forces agreement (SOFA) signed between Iraq and the United States. The oil-rich port city of Basra, Iraq’s only outlet to waterways, lies 590 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (S) 2