Anbar says Babil provincial council reversed plan to annex border areas

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The Babil Provincial Council has reversed its earlier decision to annex several districts and sub-districts from neighboring Anbar province, Anbar Provincial Government spokesman Muwaffaq al-Dulaimi said on Tuesday. According to al-Dulaimi, the new decision came in response to joint efforts by Anbar's executive and legislative branches to protect the province's administrative boundaries and the rights of its residents. The areas excluded from the annexation plan included Hiswa al-Shamaliya, al-Ajiyir, al-Ibtira and al-Sahira, which had been slated for incorporation into a newly created district within Babil. The spokesman said the reversal was carried out within the framework of safeguarding Anbar's administrative borders and the rights of its population. He did not provide additional details on when the council's original decision had been taken or the specific circumstances that led to its reversal.