AL-NASHWA, Feb 07, 2012 (AFP) - Commercial traffic has resumed on the strategic Shatt al-Arab waterway after 31 years, with the opening of a port for oil giant Shell, an Iraqi official said on Tuesday.
"The Shatt al-Arab is reborn again after being closed for 31 years," Mehdi Badah Hussein, the head of the joint committee to develop Majnoon oil field, told AFP at a ceremony to opening the port.
"There are other harbours on the Shatt al-Arab, but commercially, this is the first time Iraq succeeded in turning the Shatt al-Arab into a maritime passage which will help in transporting heavy equipment," Hussein said.
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