Green zone

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Baghdad Airport and the Green Zone

The Green Zone (also the International Zone of Baghdad ; Arabic المنطقة الخضراء, DMG al-Minṭaqa al-ḫaḍrāʾ ) is a 10 km² area in the center of Baghdad , which housed the Iraqi transitional government and is still the center of international presence in the city. The Iraqi parliament is also in the green zone.

In 2010, the Green Zone gained renewed fame through the film named after it, “ Green Zone ”, which thematically moves within and near the Green Zone.

Name and situation before 2003

The official name given to the area by the Iraqi interim government is “International Zone”, but the area is usually referred to as the “Green Zone”. In contrast, there is the so-called “Red Zone”, which refers to parts of Baghdad directly outside the Green Zone, but is also generally used for unsecured areas outside of military posts. Both word creations come from the military language.

The area originally housed the villas of high government officials, some state ministries and palaces of Saddam Hussein and his family. The largest palace was the so-called Republican Palace , Hussein's main seat of government.

After the 2003 invasion

The US embassy in Baghdad

The area was captured by American troops in April 2003 after some of the fiercest fighting over Baghdad. Few American soldiers were killed, but many Iraqis died in the fighting. Shortly before the invasion, Saddam Hussein and most of the other residents fled the area because of fear of capture by coalition forces or reprisals by Iraqis.

Although most of the ministries had already been destroyed by air strikes, a large number of now free-standing buildings still existed in central Baghdad. The civil forces of the coalition interim administration , who were there shortly after the invasion troops , decided to use the area administratively because of the optimal conditions. Jay Garner , head of the rebuilding team, pitched his tents in the Republican Palace; other villas were occupied by government officials and private companies. About 5,000 official and civil forces settled in the area.

The abandoned buildings were attractive not only to coalition forces but also to homeless Iraqis. Some of these had lost their houses during the fighting, but most of them had already been beggars and / or without permanent residence in the slums of the city before the war and raised their standard of living by moving to the empty houses to a not inconsiderable extent. They assumed that since they did not belong to Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party , they had the same right to live in the houses as the administration of the coalition forces. At the moment, around 5,000 of these Iraqis still live in the Green Zone.

The Green Zone is also home to a small garrison of American troops who guard the entire complex and equip the entrances to the zone with soldiers. In principle, this task is performed by a battalion under the leadership of the Baghdad multinational division. In addition, Georgian soldiers guarded some of the entrances to the international zone. Some of the original residents who did not escape still live in the area. Many are unreported squatters in an area commonly known as "215 apartments".

The green zone is completely surrounded by high concrete walls, T-walls and barbed wire fence. Access to the area is provided by a handful of checkpoints , all of which are controlled by coalition forces. This has led to some rebel attacks in the past, including a. with missiles that claimed some casualties. In October 2004 the zone was rocked by two suicide bombings that destroyed the bazaar and café in the Green Zone. On April 12, 2007, a bomb was detonated in the cafe of the Iraqi parliament. Mohammed Awad , a member of the Sunni National Front for Dialogue, was killed. 22 other people - including one of the vice-presidents - were also killed. From Easter 2008 to May 5, 2008, the Green Zone was bombed almost daily with rockets, most of which were fired from Sadr City . On April 6, 2008, two US soldiers were killed and 17 others wounded.

Since regaining sovereignty, many of the buildings in the Green Zone have been turned over to the new Iraqi government. The Green Zone is still the home base for many private military companies and is home to the US embassy as well as those of Great Britain, Egypt and Australia. The permanent representation of the USA was set up in the southern area of ​​the Green Zone, with a view over the Tigris . It was officially opened on January 5, 2009. It consists of 27 buildings in which around 1000 people work. This makes it the largest and most expensive US diplomatic mission in the world.

On June 1, 2010, the last American soldiers were officially withdrawn from guarding the Green Zone after responsibility for security in the Green Zone had been transferred to the Iraqi army on January 1, 2009.

Soon after, the Green Zone was repeatedly targeted by rocket and mortar attacks. On April 30, 2016, several hundred Iraqis entered the Green Zone for the first time since 2003. The Arab news channel al-Arabiya showed pictures of supporters of the Shiite preacher Muqtada al-Sadr climbing over concrete walls. The intruders also gained entry to the Iraqi parliament , where they waved the Iraqi flag and chanted slogans.

Well-known places and buildings in the Green Zone

Web links

Commons : Green Zone  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Green Zone . On globalsecurity.org , accessed on February 23, 2018
  2. ↑ USA opens world's largest embassy in Baghdad , Spiegel Online, January 5, 2009, accessed on February 23, 2018.
  3. ^ Anthony Shadid: Iraq's Psyche, Through a Green Zone Prism . On May 31, 2010 from nytimes.com , accessed February 23, 2018
  4. ^ Ernesto Londoño: At Midnight, US Leaves Republican Palace, Green Zone to Iraqis . On January 1, 2009 at washingtonpost.com , accessed February 23, 2018
  5. ↑ Steven Lee Myers, Thom Shanker: Attacks on Baghdad Green Zone Surge . From nytimes.com on September 29, 2010 ; accessed February 23, 2018
  6. ↑ : Carsten Kühntopp escalate protests in Baghdad. tagesschau.de, April 30, 2016, archived from the original on May 1, 2016 ; accessed on February 23, 2018 .

Coordinates: 33 ° 18 ′ 58.9 ″  N , 44 ° 23 ′ 23.1 ″  E