Babel council elects independent engineer as governor

BABEL / IraqiNews.com: The new Babel provincial council on Saturday elected independent engineer Salman Hassan al-Zarkani as governor and Iskandar Wattout of the Independent Commission for Civil Society as first deputy governor. Zarkani told IraqiNews.com news agency that he has “garnered 20 out of 23 votes after all seven members of the Shahid al-Mihrab bloc withdrew from the session”. Sadeq al-Mhanna of the National Islah (Reform) bloc was elected as second deputy governor. AmR (P)/SR 3