Int’l water conference in Basra

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: Activities for the international water conference have begun in Basra province to discuss the effects of the water crisis on nature and society. “Lower water levels and higher saline content negatively affects both agriculture and industry,”a  representative of the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in a speech addressed to the conference. He said that the problem started in 2007, but it became unbearable in 2009. “Basra has endured the greatest load of this crisis,” he said. The oil-rich city of Basra lies 590 km south of Baghdad. MH (P)/SR  1