35 tons of carcinogenic wheat seized in Diala

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: Police forces on Tuesday seized a lorry carrying tons of carcinogenic wheat in the north of Baaquba, the chief of the Diala police said. “Policemen in Khalis district, north of Baaquba, seized a lorry carrying 35 tons of carcinogenic wheat heading for Kirkuk,” General Abdul Hussein al-Shimri told IraqiNews.com. “Intelligence information indicated that 196 lorries carrying carcinogenic wheat entered Iraq through al-Walied crossing point,” he added. He did not give further details. Diala province, a mix of Sunnis and Shiites, extends to the northeast of Baghdad as far as the Iranian border. Its capital is Baaquba, 57 km northeast of Baghdad. It covers an area of 17,685 square kilometers (6,828 sq mi). A large portion of the province is drained by the Diala River, a major tributary of the Tigris. Because of its proximity to two major sources of water, Diala’s main industry is agriculture, primarily dates grown in large Date Palm groves. It is also recognized as the orange capital of the Middle East. In January 2008 Operation Phantom Phoenix was launched in an attempt to eradicate the remnants of al-Qaeda network following the Diala province campaign between 2006 and 2007. SH (S)/SR 1