Deputy premier visits Salah el-Din

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Deputy premier Rafeaa al-Eissawi on Thursday visited Salah el-Din to be acquainted with the security condition and services in the province, according to a statement of his office. “No progress could be realized in reconstruction operations and development projects without security,” al-Eissawi said in the statement received by IraqiNews.com. He hailed the good security atmosphere in Salah el-Din. “Al-Eissawi held a series of meetings with senior officials and chieftains to discuss the health, agriculture, trade, municipalities files as well as other issues of local interest,” the statement added. Salah al-Din has an area of 24,751 square kilometers (9,556.4 sq mi). The estimated population for 2003 was 2,146,500 people. Located in Central Iraq, north of Baghdad, it is a mainly Sunni province with only two Shiite districts, namely Balad and al-Dujail. Its capital city is Tikrit, the hometown of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. It also includes other important districts like Baiji, north of Tikrit, 175 km north of Baghdad. The province also contains the significantly larger city of Samarra. Before 1976 the province was part of the governorate of Baghdad. It is named after Saladin (written Salah ah Din in modern Arabic), an ethnic Kurd and hero of the 12th century. Salahuddin province is a variant version of the province’s name. SH (S) 1