PM to visit Thi-Qar Monday – source

THI-QAR / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will pay a visit to the province of Thi-Qar on Monday to take up a host of key issues with Governor Taleb al-Hassan, a local media source said on Sunday. “We were notified of an expected visit by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Monday (Sept. 13), who will host an iftar banquet (fast-breaking meal in Ramadan),” the source, who preferred not to be named, told Iraqi News. Hassan, meanwhile, told Aswat al-Iraq that the quick visit Prime Minister Maliki will pay to the province aims to discuss pressing issues like the saline rate and drought in the marshlands . Maliki’s last visit to Thi-Qar was paid on January 26, 2009 , during the election campaign. Thi-Qar lies 380 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad . AmR (P)/SR 1