General Andy Salmon - walk about in Al Qurnah

General Officer Commanding (GOC) Multi-National Division South East, Major General Andy Salmon, walked around the town of Al Qurnah near Basra this week, and shared a meal with the market traders.

Al Qurnah is a large town some 45 miles (72 kilometres) north west of Basra and is the administrative centre for the area. It sits at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and acts as the main hub for routes into Maysan province.Maj Gen Salmon's visit can be seen as another sign of the ever increasing security improvements in Iraq.

He met with local traders in the Alwat fish market and on the streets during his walkabout around the town. A locally cooked lunch of rice and fish was prepared and shared with the local elders and members of the Military Transition Team drawn from UK Forces.

At the lunch the GOC emphasised to key leaders that they had a pivotal role, along with the Iraqi Army, in maintaining the security of the area.

The improved situation then allows reconstruction efforts and economic activity to flourish.The visit was hosted by Colonel Kathem, the Commanding Officer of the 4th Battalion, 52nd Brigade Iraqi Army, and, illustrating the confidence now placed in the Iraqi Army, protection was provided for Maj Gen Salmon's visit by this unit.

Iraqi big bang

While British scientists were celebrating the flawless start to the "Big Bang" experiment in Geneva a team of British explosive experts detonated a significant quantitiy of abandoned high explosives in the desert north of the city of Basra.

In a series of explosions that shook the desert, more than 160 artillery shells were destroyed. The high explosives, ranging from 105 to 155mm artillery shells dating back to the Iran-Iraq war were discovered by a routine patrol north of Al Qurnah.