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Fears of Civil War Cripple Baghdad Commerce

As sectarian violence and car bombings continue to flare up across Iraq, new limits on mobility have created roadblocks to the flow of commerce in the country.
BAGHDAD, IRAQ - MARCH 13:  A horse and cart make their way through the Bab al Sharji market, March 13, 2013 in Baghdad, Iraq.  Ten years after the regime of Saddam Hussein was toppled from power, Baghdad continues to show the scars of the war. In vast areas, infrastructure is fractured and basic services are lacking, however, some areas of the capital are showing promising signs of recovery.   (Photo by Ali Arkady/Metrography/Getty Images)
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Concerns about the possibility of Iraq sliding toward the abyss of sectarian war once again have strongly affected commercial activities in Baghdad. Wholesalers in many provinces shifted to the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, which enjoys security and stability, to obtain goods. Also, real-estate prices in the capital dropped significantly due to a considerable rise in supply.

Traders of food products and construction materials in the predominantly Sunni city of Ramadi, in the west of Iraq, told Al-Monitor that they decided to shift to the wholesale markets in the city of Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, out of fear of going to the Iraqi capital following news that Shiite militias set up checkpoints in the western entrances to Baghdad in search of Sunni men arriving at the capital.

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