US Ambassador to Iraq: Some offices, apartments inside embassy nearly ready

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The US ambassador to Iraq says that American diplomats will start moving into the new embassy in Baghdad at the end of May, and should be safer in the more fortified complex inside the so-called Green Zone. Ryan Crocker told reporters on Friday that some offices and apartments should be ready at the end of the month. That's after months of delays in opening the $600 million embassy project, which has been beset by construction, logistical and security problems. Recently, US diplomats have come under increasing attack by insurgents shooting rockets inside the Green Zone. And State Department personnel had been told not to leave reinforced buildings and to wear protective helmets and body armor if they must venture outside.