Airport opens Najaf to tourists

NAJAF, IRAQ —  The government may be in Baghdad and the oil reserves in Basra, but the smaller city of Najaf, halfway between Iraq’s two centers of power, has a treasure that could be the envy of them both.

“Our oil here is tourism,” said Abdul Hussein Abtan, the deputy provincial governor in Najaf.

Najaf and its neighbor Karbala hold some of Islam’s holiest monuments. If they could, Shiite Muslims from around the Middle East would flock to the city to pray at the shrine of Imam Ali, the cousin and companion of the prophet Muhammad and his rightful successor according to the Shiite branch of Islam.

Decades of repression and war had reduced the pilgrimage to a trickle. But next week, Najaf is taking a giant step toward tapping into its tourism resource when it joins the short list of Iraqi cities with airports capable of handling large commercial jets.

After the $80-million renovation of an abandoned military airfield, Najaf Airport will open to commercial traffic July 20, Abtan said.

At first, there will be three or four flights a day, but Najaf officials foresee rapid growth and are planning to pump $170 million more into the project. Within six months, they foresee 50 flights a day.

“In theory, the airport should be able to receive 3 million travelers a year in two years,” Abtan said.

The airport is a key aspect of a commercial resurgence in Najaf since the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein, who had severely cut the traffic of Shiites from Iran and other countries.

The battles between the U.S. military and followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr interrupted that growth in 2004, but it has taken off again with improved security.

Nouri Juhaishi, owner of the Dur Najaf Hotel, said: “Opening the airport is considered as a dream for the people of Najaf.”

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Times staff writers Saif Rasheed and Doug Smith in Baghdad contributed to this report.