Basra city key target on road to Baghdad

IN a country wracked by war and constant bloodshed the key city of Basra has been at the centre of all turmoil.

The ancient port is the first major city on the road to Baghdad and, as such, a strategic military target.

The road to Basra, dubbed the Highway of Death, provided some of the most shocking images of the Gulf War, when thousands of fleeing Iraqi troops perished in wave after wave of US air bombardment.