Ex-commander dies of heart attack

WASSIT / IraqiNews.com: The former commander of Wassit’s operations died of a heart attack in his house in Kut, a local media source said on Sunday. “The former commander of Wassit’s operations, Maj. Gen. Khaled Abdelsattar al-Hakeem, died on Sunday morning in his house in Kut following several months’ illness with the disease,” Thamir al-Taie told IraqiNews.com. Security chiefs and local officials in the province attended the funeral, Taie added. A Shiite province, Wassit, 180 km south of Baghdad, is in the east of the country. Its name comes from the Arabic word meaning “middle,” as it lies along the Tigris about midway between Baghdad and Basra. Its major cities include the capital, al-Kut, and al-Hayy. Prior to 1976 it was known as Kut Province. SS (P) 1