Negroponte arrives in Basra

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte arrived in Basra on Tuesday afternoon on a surprise visit to meet the governor and local officials, a source from the U.S. consulate in Basra said. “Negroponte arrived this afternoon in Basra and met Governor Mohamed Musbeh al-Waeli and security officers to discuss issues of common concern,” the source told IraqiNews.com. He gave no more details. The U.S. official had arrived in Baghdad last week on unannounced visit. He visited also Kirkuk, Sulaimaniya, Arbil and Anbar. Washington and Baghdad announced earlier they are about to strike a long-term security agreement. Basra, 590 km (340 miles) south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, has an estimated metropolitan population of 2,300,000 in 2008. Basra, a Shiite province with 20% of the population are Sunnis, is the cradle of the first civilization of Sumer. It has the seven main Iraqi ports. The first built in Islam 14 A.H. (After Hegira), the city played an important role in early Islamic history. The area surrounding Basra has substantial petroleum resources and many oil wells. The city’s oil refinery has a production capacity of about 140,000 barrels per day (bpd). The only Iraqi outlet to the sea, Basra is in a fertile agricultural region, with major products including rice, maize corn, barley, pearl millet, wheat and dates as well as livestock. A network of canals flowed through the city, giving it the nickname “The Venice of the Middle East” at least at high tide. The only Iraqi outlet to the sea, Basra has the commercial ports of Iraq. SH (S) 1