2 Kidnapped persons freed in south of Nassiriya

THI-QAR / IraqiNews.com: Policemen on Thursday freed two kidnapped persons and arrested their kidnappers in south of Nassiriya city, the media director of the Thi-Qar police said. “Acting on intelligence information on the kidnapping of two workers in al-Shieyokh market in south of Nassiriya, a police force was formed and managed to free the two men and arrested the eight-person kidnapping gang,” Colonel Sadeq al-Meshrefawi told IraqiNews.com. “Three vehicles containing light weapons of the gang were confiscated,” he also said. He gave no more details. Thi-Qar, 380 km south of Baghdad, has an area of 12,900 square kilometers (4,980.7 sq mi). In 2003 the estimated population of the governorate was 1,454,200 people. Thi-Qar was the second Iraqi province where security responsibilities were transferred from the Multi-National Force (MNF) to the Iraqis. The province’s capital is the city of al-Nassiriya. It also includes the ancient Sumerian ruins of Ur, Eridu, Lagash and Ngirsu. Before 1976 the province was known as al-Muntafiq. SH (S) 1