US returns birthplace of Prophet Abraham to Iraq

The United States military Wednesday handed control of ancient Ur, the biblical birthplace of Abraham, back to Iraq, six years after the American invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

"We officially announce the taking over of Ziggurat of Ur from our friends the Americans," Talib Kamil al-Hassan, governor of Dhi Qar province, said at a ceremony to mark the return of the ancient site.

"Abraham, peace be upon him, was born here, the father of prophets and religions," he said.

The site is renowned for its well preserved step platform or ziggurat, which dates back to the third millennium BC. It lies near the U.S. air base of Talila, outside the southern city of Nasiriyah, and has been closed to the public since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

Ur of the Chaldees was one of the great urban centers of the Sumerian civilization of southern Iraq and remained an important city until its conquest by Alexander the Great a few centuries before Christ.

The city, which dates back to 6000 B.C., lies on a former course of the Euphrates, one of the two great rivers of Iraq, and is one of the country's oldest sites.

We officially announce the taking over of Ziggurat of Ur from our friends the Americans

Dhi Qar Governor Talib Kamil al-Hassan