Forgery gang detained in central Nassiriya

THI-QAR/ IraqiNews.com: Police forces on Monday arrested a money forgery gang in central Nassiriya city, the media spokesman for the Thi-Qar police department said. “The forces arrested the four-men gang during an operation after receiving tips from local residents in al-Salihiya region in central Nassiriya,” Colonel Sadeq al-Mishrefawi told IraqiNews.com. “They found forged U.S. and Iraqi amounts in their possession,” he added. He did not give 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 (P)/SR 1