Interior ministry prepares for receiving security file in Baghdad

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The interior ministry said that it started on Thursday preparations for receiving the Baghdad security file from the Multinational forces, to become the 14th province which receives the security file after Wassit, the director of the ministry’s national command center said. “The ministry started today preparations to receive the security file in Baghdad from the Multinational forces and the deployment of Iraqi forces throughout the capital,” General Abdul Karim Khalaf told IraqiNews.com. He did not specify the exact time of the handover. Last Wednesday, Iraqi forces received the security file of Wassit province from the Multinational forces. Baghdad is the capital of Iraq and Baghdad province. With a municipal population estimated at 7,000,000, it is the largest city in Iraq. It is the second largest city in the Arab world (after Cairo) and the second largest city in southwest Asia (after Tehran). Located on the Tigris River, the city dates back to at least the 8th century, and probably to pre-Islamic times. Once the center of Dar al-Islam (the abode of Islam), Baghdad has been a center of violent conflict since 2003 because of the ongoing Iraq war. Baghdad’s population is a mix of Sunnis and Shiites. It is mainly divided into two sides: the west (al-Karkh) and the east (al-Rasafa). SH (S) 1