MNF apologizes to Thi-Qar police

THI-QAR / IraqiNews.com: The Multinational Forces presented their official apology to the Thi-Qar police for the military operation they waged on October 2, a police source said on Monday. “The Multinational Forces presented their official apology to the police chief Genera Sabah Muhsen al-Fatlawi because of the security operation they launched on October 2 when they made an air drop in al-Haboubi street in central Nassiriya,” Colonel Sadeq al-Meshrefawi told IraqiNews.com. “The operation targeted the large tenet made by the Sadrist bloc to commemorate the anniversary of Mohamed Sadeq al-Sadr, where they destroy the tenet and arrested a group of people,” he added. 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. SH (P)/SR 2