Anger in Baghdad as Americans finish wall

Last Updated: 2:04am BST 03/05/2007

American forces have completed construction of a concrete wall around the Baghdad district of Adhamiya despite protests from the Iraqi prime minister and local residents who claim that they are now at the mercy of militants.

	Local artists display their skills with murals on the blast barriers and concrete walls that dot Baghdad

The wall was intended to help control the activities of militants in the predominantly Sunni Muslim district. But it remains a bastion of extremist al-Qa'eda linked groups. Parts of the district are so thick with armed militants that they are no-go zones to coalition forces.

Capt Mohammad Jasim, an Iraqi soldier manning a checkpoint on the Adhamiya bridge, said: "The Americans did not listen to us. We think this wall has made the area inside the wall more dangerous for people.

Um Doraid, a middle-aged housewife, said: "We here inside the wall are still as vulnerable as ever."