BAGHDAD, May 13: Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari announced on Friday that he was extending for 30 days a state of emergency throughout the country, except for the three Kurdish provinces in the north. A statement from Jaafari’s office, which said the extension was in effect from Friday, explained that the reason for the extension was the ‘persistence of the conditions that justified the state of emergency’.

The state of emergency, introduced by the previous interim administration, gives the government the right to impose curfews, issue arrest warrants and restrict movement around the country. The measure was first imposed for 60 days by former premier Iyad Allawi, ahead of an invasion of Fallujah last November by US and Iraqi forces. It has been renewed repeatedly since then.—AFP