Iraq opens new airport in holy city of Najaf - Bankrolled by Iran

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2008/July/middleeast_July521.xml§ion=middleeast

20 July 2008

BAGHDAD - Iraq opened a new airport in the southern city of Najaf on Sunday in what the prime minister said was a key step in the reconstruction of a country devastated by war.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, mostly Iranians, travel to Iraq every year to visit Shia shrines in Najaf and another holy city, Karbala. The new airport is expected to boost the numbers of pious tourists.

At a ceremony, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki described the US$250 million airport as a vital element in Iraq's economic development. A military airfield was renovated for the new airport, and several flights were expected to land on Sunday.

The Najaf airport is a starting point for competition among provinces and local governments to make extraordinary progress toward reconstruction," al-Maliki said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/02/AR2005080201616.html

Iraq to Build Airport With Help From Iran

Loan Would Pay for Project in Shiite Area

By Jonathan Finer and Omar Fekeiki
Washington Post Foreign Service

Wednesday, August 3, 2005; Page A15

BAGHDAD, Aug. 2 -- Iraq plans to build a multimillion-dollar international airport near the southern city of Najaf, a holy center for Shiite Muslims, that would be financed largely by a low-interest loan from Iran, according to Iraq's transportation minister.

"If the security situation in Baghdad remains unstable, flights that currently go there could be shifted to Najaf instead," the minister, Salam Maliki, said in an interview this week. "The funding will come from a soft loan from Iran, and it could open as soon as in the next four months." snip

"In general, no country gives this kind of loan without other interests," said a Sunni politician who spoke on condition of anonymity. "I think this doesn't go without something in return."

The newly arrived U.S. ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, accused Iran during a news conference Monday of taking actions that undermine Iraqi security.

[Arctic Dave]

1. It looks like we should have contracted Iran to

rebuild Iraq, they seem to be able to get things done.

[cliffordu]

2. Yep, and I haven't heard of a single electrocution on that job..

[Pastiche423]

3. A new airport undermines security?

:crazy: