Baghdad’s Green Zone has been a barometer for tension and conflict in Iraq for nearly two decades. Despite the blast walls, Shiite militiamen in eastern neighbourhoods of the city commonly fired rockets into the Green Zone. There was also the Green Zone Cafe, a tent erected in the parking lot of a former gas station. Its name was adapted for the 2010 Matt Damon action thriller “Green Zone,” about a U.S. army officer hunting for weapons of mass destruction. There has been talk for years that restrictions would be lifted in the Green Zone, first by then-Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in 2015.

Source: National Post May 31, 2019 06:45 UTC