The Iraqi capital sprung to life Sunday after a four-day curfew to thwart violence after a provocative attack on a Shiite shrine to the north, as a top American general acknowledged that security forces have full control in only 40% of the city.Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno's assessment came as a U.S.-Iraqi effort to pacify Baghdad entered its fifth month, with 30,000 additional U.S. troops now in place. But the city has so far seen little improvement in overall violence, and a tense political standoff was underway between the U.S.-backed government and Shiite lawmakers who suspended their participation in parliament.
Traffic clogged the capital's main thoroughfares for the first time in several days, after a four-day vehicle ban imposed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki after Wednesday's suspected al-Qaeda bombing of the minarets at the Askariya shrine in Samarra.
Lines of vehicles snaked around the block where gas stations had been shut for days, and vendors spread fresh vegetables across wooden stands in bustling wholesale markets. Packed buses motored slowly over bridges spanning the Tigris River.
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