Clashes in Baghdad wound 7, authorities remove barriers and open roads

Police clashed with protesters in central Baghdad on Saturday, wounding seven, after authorities began removing concrete blocks from the Iraqi capital's main protest site, security and medical sources said.

In Baghdad and Basra, security forces began opening roads and some supporters of popular cleric Moqtada al-Sadr packed up tents where they had joined months-long sit-ins, security sources said.