Is Bush going to let Iran finish building the airport in Iraq before he starts murdering Iranians?

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/02/AR2005080201616.html

Iraq to Build Airport With Help From Iran

Loan Would Pay for Project in Shiite Area

By Jonathan Finer and Omar Fekeiki
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, August 3, 2005; Page A15

BAGHDAD, Aug. 2 -- Iraq plans to build a multimillion-dollar international airport near the southern city of Najaf, a holy center for Shiite Muslims, that would be financed largely by a low-interest loan from Iran, according to Iraq's transportation minister.

"If the security situation in Baghdad remains unstable, flights that currently go there could be shifted to Najaf instead," the minister, Salam Maliki, said in an interview this week. "The funding will come from a soft loan from Iran, and it could open as soon as in the next four months."

The facility, which Maliki said would cost an estimated $20 million to $25 million, would largely serve religious pilgrims traveling to and from Iran. Maliki said it would also link the region to other countries and improve access to a range of tourist attractions. Najaf, which is 90 miles south of Baghdad, and nearby Karbala are home to several of the shrines deemed holiest to Shiites.