Muay Thai teams camp in Najaf ahead of Asian tournament

NAJAF / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi Muay Thai teams for men and women will attend a training camp in Najaf province in September 2009 in preparation for an Asian tournament hosted by Vietnam. “The camp will be held from September 10-30,” the chairman of the Iraqi Muay Thai Federation, Mahdi Dwiger, told Iraqi News. More than 25 countries will participate in the tournament, which will take place from October 30-November 8. Muay Thai, otherwise known as Thai boxing, is a form of hard martial art practiced in large parts of the world, including Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. Najaf, about 160 km south of Baghdad, has an estimated population of 900,600 in 2008, though this has increased significantly since 2003 due to immigration from abroad. The city is one of the holiest cities of Shiite Islam and the center of Shiite political power in Iraq. SS (P) 1