$700,000 to preserve Babel archeological site

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The U.S. embassy in Iraq said on Friday that the U.S. government has contributed with the sum of $700,000 for a plan to preserve the archeological site of Babel. “The U.S. State Department has donated $700,000 to sustain the efforts of the Iraqi State Council for Antiquities and Heritage to draw up a plan to preserve the ancient archeological site of Babel,” according to a U.S. embassy release received by IraqiNews.com news agency. Babel, a Shiite province that lies 100 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, has an area of 6,468 square kilometers (2,497.3 sq mi), with an estimated population of 1,385,783 people in 2003. The provincial capital is the town of al-Hilla. The ancient ruins of Babylon ( Babil , after which the region is named) are also in the province. AmR (P) 1