By Xinhua,
Baghdad : Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki Sunday inaugurated a new airport in the holy city of Najaf south of Baghdad, Iraqi official television reported.
“It is a historic moment which goes beyond mere opening an airport, it is a message that (the process of) building new Iraq has been kicked off,” Maliki said at a televised ceremony outside the city, some 160 km south of Baghdad.
He said the airport inauguration was another step toward reconstruction in the country after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, calling on other Iraqi provinces to follow suit in reconstruction efforts.
“There should be a kind of competition among other Iraqi provinces to rebuild their regions,” Maliki said.
Maliki also announced that the nearby Shiite holy city of Karbala would also sign a contract to build its own airport.
The airport is vital for the Shiite pilgrims who throng by hundreds of thousands, mostly from neighboring Iran, to visit the most revered Shiite shrines in Najaf and Karbala.