Supplementary budget disbursed to Diala depts.

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: Diala’s provincial council on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for the distribution of the 2008 supplementary budget to local departments in the province.”On Wednesday, the provincial council approved all projects by government departments, which will be financed through the 2008 supplementary budget, totaling $124 billion Iraqi dinars,” the head of the council, Ibrahim Hassan al-Bajlan, told IraqiNews.com. 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. SS (S)/SR 1