By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki imposed a ban on all vehicle traffic Friday in Baghdad and the volatile Diyala province in an apparent effort to prevent reprisal attacks by suicide car bombers following the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
The ban will be in effect from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday in Baghdad and from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for three days in Diyala, Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Adnan Abdul Rahman said.
Al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, was killed in a massive US air strike Wednesday near Baqouba, the provincial capital of Sunni-dominated Diyala, which has seen a recent rise in sectarian violence.