Airport, rail link planned for religious city in south

 

By Zahra Majeed

 

Azzaman, May 21, 2005

 

The Ministry of Transport has asked foreign firms to submit offers for the construction of a new airport in the religious city of Najaf.

 

In a statement, the ministry said it planned to link the city to the national railways in anticipation of a boost in religious tourism in the country.

 

Najaf and Karbala, south of Baghdad, are sacred cities for Muslim Shiites all over the world.

 

Tourism boomed in the two cities in the months after the fall of former leader Saddam Hussein.

 

But the number of foreign pilgrims is said to have drastically declined due to the worsening security conditions in the country.

 

But the statement, quoting Transport Minister Salam al-Maliki, said the government was keen “to develop Najaf and go ahead with the construction of an airport in the city.”

 

Other projects for Najaf include a modern bus terminal and a railway station, the minister quoted in the statement as saying.

 

Many foreign firms flocked to Iraq shortly after Saddam Hussein’s downfall, but most of them have left the country due to security reasons.

 

The statement did not say which foreign firms would be interested to take part in the reconstruction of Najaf.

 

Most of current reconstruction is being done by local contractors.

 

But even Iraqis working with the government and the U.S. are targets of insurgent attacks.