(MENAFN- Arab News) BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi on Friday ordered military commanders to make it easier for civilians to get into Baghdad's fortified Green Zone while improving access to streets across the country closed off by political and security factions.

Militias political parties and influential figures have created many no-go areas in Baghdad and other cities in response to waves of car bombings since the US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The Green Zone is a heavily defended district in central Baghdad that is home to many government buildings and several Western embassies.
The order comes in the third week of a reform drive by Al-Abadi aimed at combating rampant corruption and streamlining the bloated government in response to weeks of protests and calls from top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani.
Ahead of fresh street protests expected in the capital and southern cities on Friday Al-Abadi ordered commanders to implement a plan 'to protect civilians ... from being targeted by terrorism' according to online statements. If the move actually goes ahead it is likely to face significant opposition from embassies in the Green Zone including those of the United States and Britain due to security concerns.
While attacks have dropped in Baghdad compared with the first half of last year bombings that are sometimes claimed by Daesh are still a frequent occurrence in the capital.
The Green Zone is surrounded by high concrete walls guarded by labyrinths of successive checkpoints and protected by Abrams tanks armored personnel carriers and elite members of the security forces.
It held lavish palaces occupied by former President Saddam Hussein and other senior figures and supporters of his regime before his overthrow in 2003 but was much more accessible then than it is now.
After his fall those same palaces served as the headquarters for the US-led occupation and later for Iraq's new political elite whose corruption has aroused widespread popular ire.
Easy entry requires going through a byzantine process to obtain necessary badges that has itself been said to be a source of graft with large payments reportedly expediting the procedures.
The premier also ordered the formation of committees to review the sale and rental of state properties and to return illegally obtained assets and restore to the state those that were 'unfairly evaluated.'
Some top politicians have managed to obtain Saddam-era palaces or other valuable properties either free of charge or for far less than their true value.
Both opening the streets and efforts to recover ill-gotten state assets are almost certain to face major resistance from politicians across the political spectrum who have benefitted from both.