Baghdad  - Hundreds of Iraqi journalists and lawmakers took to the streets in Baghdad on Friday to demonstrate for greater press freedom.

Protesters, who gathered at the al-Motanabi book market , called on the government to speed up passing a law to protect journalists.

"The Iraqi parliament is required today, more than any other time, to pass a law to protect journalists in order to ensure the press freedom granted by the Iraqi constitution," lawmaker Zainab al-Kanani said.

She called on the government to stop silencing journalists, saying that this is going to "take back the country to the era of the former regime."

The demonstration comes after the local al-Sabah newspaper was attacked after publishing reports on the arrest of presidential guards suspected to be involved in a bank robbery.

Iraqi police and army forces were deployed along Baghdad's al-Motanabi street, and shops and bookstores were closed.

"This tight security aims at protecting the protesters against any violent or criminal acts," spokesman for the Iraqi security forces in Baghdad, Qassem Atta said in a statement.

"It is not true that we prevented satellite channels from transmitting the protest... we only check cars and bicycles nearby to ensure security in the area," he added. (dpa)