By Ross Colvin
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Violent civilian deaths in Iraq in December were down 75 percent from a year ago, new figures released on Monday showed as Iraqis partied in the streets of some parts of the capital Baghdad to bring in the New Year.
A year ago, the scenes of unrestrained revelry would have been unthinkable in a country racked by savage sectarian violence that by the most conservative estimates has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced some 4 million.
According to figures compiled by the interior, health and defense ministries, 481 civilians died violently in Iraq in December, a 75 percent drop from the 1,930 who were killed in December 2006, when the country was on the brink of civil war.
Since then, the U.S. military has adopted a new counter- insurgency strategy, Sunni Arab tribes have rebelled against al Qaeda, and anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has ordered his Mehdi Army militia to observe a six-month ceasefire.
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCACOL16978920071231