Iraq on high alert on eve of constitutional poll

Hundreds of Iraqi police and army troops fanned out across Baghdad yesterday, setting up checkpoints and fortifying polling stations with barbed wire and blast barriers two days ahead of a historic constitutional referendum.

From the city’s Shiite stronghold of Kazimiyah to its southern approaches in the notorious Triangle of Death, the capital’s usually chaotic traffic was down to a tiny fraction. Many stores didn’t bother to open and others shuttered early ahead of a 10pm curfew.