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Iraq builds for the future
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Iraq builds for the future
By Ed Blanche
Despite a relentless insurgency that has paralysed Iraq's reconstruction after decades of war and sanctions, work is forging ahead on an ambitious project to construct an international airport at Najaf, the heart of the Shia Muslim-dominated region in southern Iraq, financed largely by a low-interest loan from Iran.
The USD73.8 million facility, to be known as Imam Ali International Airport, is being built around an old Iraqi air force base with a two-mile-long asphalt runway that is big enough to take jumbo jets. The control tower will be shaped like the minaret of a mosque, underlining Najaf's stature as the holiest city in Shia Islam.
In a land wracked by violence, political turmoil and economic failure, and where large-scale reconstruction is rare, the project on Najaf's eastern outskirts that planners believe will generate USD500 million a year from religious tourists and pilgrims stands out as a beacon of hope for national revival.
Attracting private-sector investment funds for the project, and associated development plans for the city and its environs, is not easy given the political situation and remains a major challenge. But Najaf is positioning itself as the new capital of global Shiism. "Religious tourism could be bigger than oil," says Riyadh Bahr Uloum, a member of the Najaf provincial council. He, and others, believe that Najaf, 90 miles south of Baghdad, and its nearby sister shrine city of Karbala, will attract millions of Shia from neighbouring Iran, the Gulf states, India and Pakistan every year.
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