BAGHDAD, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The Iraqi government has announced it will ease security measures inside Baghdad and lift the seven-day siege on the Shiite Sadr City suburb.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has been under U.S. pressure to curb rampant insecurity, said in a statement the decision to remove checkpoints in Baghdad and end the blockade will be enforced by sunset Tuesday.
Maliki said the stringent security measures that were taken in parallel with the siege of Sadr City, a densely-populated Shiite suburb east of Baghdad, "will only be imposed during night curfew and in emergency cases, while joint (U.S.-Iraqi) efforts will continue to hunt down terrorists and outlaws who are exposing the life of citizens to danger."
The premier called on Baghdad's residents to abide by the law and cooperate with security forces in their mission to control security and ensure stability.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have been imposing a siege on Sadr City for the past seven days in an attempt to trace the whereabouts of a U.S. soldier of Iraqi origin who was kidnapped last week in central Baghdad.
The Americans accused al-Mehdi Army of fiery Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr of standing behind the abduction, which Sadr has categorically denied.
In another development, U.S. casualties in October, the deadliest on track since 2004 for American forces, increased Tuesday as the U.S. army announced the death of two more troops.
Separate army statements said the two soldiers were killed Monday night in hostile action south and west of Baghdad.
