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April 15, 2014

Iraq's Abu Ghraib prision is closed due to security issues after a mass breakout last year. - AFP pic, April 15, 2014.Iraq has closed Abu Ghraib prison, made infamous by Saddam Hussein's regime and US forces, due to security concerns following a mass breakout last year, the justice ministry said today.

The country is suffering a protracted surge in violence that has claimed more than 2,550 lives this year, and the area west of Baghdad where the prison is located is particularly insecure.

The ministry announced online the "complete closure of Baghdad Central Prison, previously (known as) 'Abu Ghraib', and the removal of the inmates in cooperation with the ministries of defence and interior".

The statement quoted Justice Minister Hassan al-Shammari as saying 2,400 inmates arrested or sentenced for terrorism-related offences have been transferred to other facilities in central and northern Iraq.

"The ministry took this decision as part of precautionary measures related to the security of prisons," Shammari said, adding that Abu Ghraib prison is "in a hot area".

It was not immediately clear whether the closure was temporary or permanent.

The prison is located between Baghdad and the city of Fallujah, which has been held by anti-government fighters since early January.

Shelling in Fallujah today killed five people and wounded 16, while mortar rounds and twin suicide bombings in Anbar provincial capital Ramadi, farther west, left one dead and eight wounded.

Abu Ghraib prison served as a notorious torture centre under now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein, with an estimated 4,000 detainees perishing there.

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Iraqs Ministry of Justice announced Tuesday that it would close the facility formerly known as Abu Ghraib prison, the site of an infamous torture scandal under the U.S. occupation.

The ministry made that decision as part of precautionary measures related to the security of the prisons, said Justice Minister Hassan Shammari. He did not clarify whether the shutdown is permanent.

Shammari explained that the location of the facility, on the edge of insurgent-dominated areas of Anbar province, west of central Baghdad, has become a hot spot.

Islamic militants have been targeting officials from the Shiite-led government and seizing control of parts of Anbar province, which is controlled by Sunni rebels. Iraqs electoral commission said last week that there will be no voting in the areas of Anbar where security operations are underway.

Now called the Baghdad Central Prison, the jail facility has been emptied of its 2,400 inmates, some of whom were convicted of committing acts of terrorism. They have been sent to other prisons in central and northern provinces, according to the Justice Ministrys website.

In July 2013, militants launched an attack on the prison, setting free hundreds of inmates including militants affiliated with Al Qaeda. Dozens of other prisoners and security personnel were killed in the melee.

Abu Ghraib became notorious after photographs surfaced in 2004, one year after the invasion, showing Iraqi detainees being humiliated by U.S. soldiers.

U.S. troops pulled out Iraq in 2011, but violence has been surging in the oil-rich nation over the last year.

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Iraq closes notorious Abu Ghraib prison because of security concerns