Iraqi police dismantle Sunni protest camp

BAGHDAD: Iraqi police took down tents and cleared a Sunni sit-in in a flash point western city after protesters there agreed to end their months-long demonstration following talks with the Shiite-led government.
The protest camp in Ramadi, 115 km west of Baghdad, was one of a half dozen similar sit-ins across Sunni areas in Iraq. Since last December, the Sunnis have been protesting against discrimination at the hands of the country’s Shiite-led government and against tough anti-terrorism measures against Sunnis.
On Monday, security forces dismantled the Ramadi camp, which was set up along a highway linking the city with Baghdad to the east, and Jordan to the west, said Defense Ministry spokesman, Mohammed Al-Askari. By early afternoon, the highway was reopened, he said.
The development came after three days of talks between the Ramadi Sunnis and Defense Ministry officials from Baghdad. There have also been other Sunni sit-ins, in cities such as Kirkuk, Mosul and Samarra, but rallying there has died down over the past months and it was not immediately clear if the camp sites there would be dismantled as well.
Al-Askari told Iraqi state TV that authorities convinced the Ramadi Sunnis late on Sunday to end their protest peacefully. The protesters were also warned that their gathering was a potential place of shelter for Al-Qaeda fighters but Al-Askari said there was no violence during Monday’s police action.
However, a police officer and an army intelligence official said there was an exchange of fire between the police and gunmen in some areas around the camp. Two explosives-laden cars and bombs were found in the camp, the two said.