Plan to establish transit port in Basra

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi Ports Company is planning to establish a transit port in Basra to work as a bridge between east and the west similar to Dubai port, the firm’s director general said on Wednesday. “There could be some international barriers that curb this project,” Salah Abood told IraqiNews.com news agency. He said that the Iraqi ports, in case they work normally, will compete with other regional harbors. The oil-rich city of Basra lies 590 km south of Baghdad. The Shiite province of Basra, 590 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, has five commercial ports and two oil ports: al-Maaqal, established in 1916 by the British forces and handed over to Iraqi authorities in 1937; and Faw, a small port on the al-Faw Peninsula near the Shatt al-Arab waterway and the Gulf. MH (P)/SH 1