5 wanted men nabbed near Thi-Qar

THI-QAR / IraqiNews.com: Five men on Tuesday were arrested on criminal charges in areas close to Thi-Qar province, the head of the relations and media department in the local police said. “Local police forces captured two wanted men in al-Shatra district (45 km north of Thi-Qar) and three others in al-Rifaie district (80 km north of Thi-Qar),” Col. Sadiq al-Mashrafawi told IraqiNews.com. Thi-Qar, 380 km south of Baghad, 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. SS (P) 1