Kidnapped physician freed in Thi-Qar

THI-QAR / IraqiNews.com: An Iraqi physician has been released from captivity north of Nassiriya city, a media spokesperson for Thi-Qar police said on Sunday. “Emergency forces have managed to arrest a gang of two men, who had kidnapped a physician working in al-Shatra district (45 km north of Nassiriya city),” Maj. Nasir al-Majidi told IraqiNews.com. The kidnappers have been referred to security authorities, Majidi noted, providing no details of the motivations behind the abduction. 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