Iraqi officials lift planned Basra curfew minutes 3pm local time start

Iraqi officials lifted a planned curfew in Iraq's southern oil hub Basra minutes before it was due to start at 3 pm local time on Thursday, Basra Operations Command told Reuters.

The curfew was announced earlier in the day in an attempt to quell escalating protests which have engulfed the city and the nearby Umm Qasr commodities port for several days. (Reporting by Aref Mohammed; writing by Raya Jalabi; editing by David Stamp)