Iraqi security forces guard as cars cross into the Green Zone in Baghdad
Iraqi security forces guard as cars cross into the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq October 5, 2015. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad open to all citizens on Sunday, part of a reform drive prompted by protests demanding greater transparency and openness. The 10-square-kilometre (four-square-mile) Green Zone on the bank of the Tigris River has been largely off limits to ordinary Iraqis due to security concerns since the 2003 U.S. invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. The zone, which houses government buildings and foreign embassies including that of the United States, has come to symbolise the isolation of Iraq's rulers from citizens and also causes considerable traffic disruption in the city of seven million people. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad