Reply #8: Mayor of Baghdad says city crumbling [View All]

[Barrett808]

Mayor of Baghdad says city crumbling
Patrick Quinn, Associated Press
July 1, 2005 IRAQ0701

BAGHDAD -- Baghdad's mayor decried the capital's crumbling infrastructure and its inability to supply enough clean water to residents, threatening Thursday to resign if the government won't provide more money.

Mayor Alaa Mahmoud al-Timimi's statement was an indication of the daily misery that Baghdad's 6.45 million people still endure more than two years after the U.S.-led invasion. They are wracked not only by unrelenting bombings and kidnappings, but by shortages of water, electricity and fuel.

"It's useless for any official to stay in office without the means to accomplish his job," Al-Timimi told reporters. He is seeking $1.5 billion for Baghdad in 2005 but so far has received only $85 million, said his spokesman, Ameer Ali Hasson.

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http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5485365.html