7 arrested on criminal, terror charges in Basra

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: Seven persons, including two Arabs, on Saturday were arrested on criminal and terror-related charges in different parts of Basra province, according to a local media source. “The two Arab nationals, Egyptians, were captured in Safwan area (60 km west of Basra),” the media office of Basra’s police told IraqiNews.com. Basra, 590 km (340 miles) south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, has an estimated metropolitan population of 2,300,000 in 2008. Basra, a Shiite province with 20% of the population are Sunnis, is the cradle of the first civilization of Sumer. It has the seven main Iraqi ports. The first built in Islam 14 A.H. (After Hegira), the city played an important role in early Islamic history. SS (P) 1