Maliki in Nassiriya to open major water project

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki arrived on Monday morning in Nassiriya city to inaugurate a major water project, according to a parliamentary media source. “A number of ministers and advisors, including the minister of water resources, Jamal Rasheed Abdellateef, have accompanied Maliki in his visit,” the source told IraqiNews.com. The project is one of the largest and most significant in Iraq. It transfers salt water in central and southern Iraq through a network of canals to the Persian Gulf. Thi-Qar, 380 km south of Baghdad, has an area of 12,900 square kilometers (4,980.7 sq mi). In 2003 the estimated population of the governorate was 1,454,200 people. Thi-Qar was the second Iraqi province where security responsibilities were transferred from the Multi-National Force (MNF) to the Iraqis. The province’s capital is the city of al-Nassiriya. It also includes the ancient Sumerian ruins of Ur, Eridu, Lagash and Ngirsu. Before 1976 the province was known as al-Muntafiq. SS (P) 1