Iraq's PM orders checkpoints lifted in Sadr City

BAGHDAD, Oct 31 (Reuters) Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki today ordered that all checkpoints in Baghdad's Shi'ite stronghold of Sadr City and other parts of the capital be lifted to allow traffic to flow.

Iraqi and US troops have for the past week been manning checkpoints and mounting raids in Sadr City, home of the feared Mehdi Army militia of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, in the hunt for a US soldier of Iraqi origin who was abducted in central Baghdad last Monday.

Maliki had given the order ''to lift all barriers and checkpoints to open roads and ease traffic in Sadr City and other districts of Baghdad'', a statement from Maliki's office said. US Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver told Reuters he was unaware of the order.

REUTERS AKJ VV1640