(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Saleh Mutlaq, a leading Sunni politician, on Saturday urged authorities to open the road to Baghdad for thousands of displaced from the rebel-seized city of Ramadi.
"I call for the immediate opening of Bzeibez bridge," Mutlaq, who is himself from the mainly Sunni province of Anbar of which Ramadi is the capital, said at a conference in Jordan.
He said that the bridge, which was opened on Tuesday, had since been closed to those fleeing Ramadi for the safety of Baghdad, 100 kilometres (60 miles) to the east.
"Preventing citizens from entering their capital is a crime," said Mutlaq. "The constitution does not allow anyone to forbid a citizen from entering any province" in Iraq.
The authorities at Bzeibez bridge are requesting the displaced to have a sponsor before they can enter the capital, where some accuse them of being infiltrated by the IS jihadist group.
According to the International Organisation for Migration, 40,000 people have fled fighting which led to the capture of Ramadi by IS last Sunday.
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