troung

Iraqi fisherman nets shark 160 miles from sea
Tue Oct 30, 2007 10:10 AM ET

NASSIRIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - A two-meter shark has been caught in a river in southern Iraq more than 200 km (160 miles) from the sea.

Karim Hasan Thamir said he was fishing with his sons last week when they spotted a large fish thrashing about in his net. "I recognized the fish as a shark because I have seen one on a television program," he told Reuters.

The shark was pulled from the mouth of an irrigation canal that joins the Euphrates River. The Euphrates joins the Tigris River further east to form the Shatt al-Arab waterway which flows south past Basra into the Gulf.

Dr. Mohamed Ajah, assistant dean of the college of science at Thi Qar University in Nassiriya, said barriers in river estuaries usually prevented sharks swimming upstream.

"In this case, I think this animal was there for a long time but no one had managed to see it," he said.

Locals blamed the U.S. military for the shark's presence.

Tahseen Ali, a teacher, said there was a "75 percent chance" Americans had put the shark in the water.

"This is very frightening for us. Our children always swim in the river and I believe that there are more sharks. I believe that America is behind this matter," said fisherman Hatim Karim.

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To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

braindead

soon somebody will explain scientificly this - probably along the lines ´it is because US troops are murdering thousands of people and their bodies drift down the river and that attracts sharks ´.

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Feanor

[sarcasm]AHA!!! I knew you Americans were screwing over Iraq. Next thing you know they'll start catching sharks in the swimming pools.[/sarcasm]

Shamus

Good job on the sarcasm brackets there bud .

__________________
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but
it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

Dreadnought

If that was true then they would have found "jaws" in Saddam's swimming pool.

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Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

smilingassassin

You know just when I though I had heard all the lame excuses as to why its America's fault, this gem shows up...

Good God whats next?!!

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Facts to a liberal is like Kryptonite to Superman.

-- Larry Elder

Dreadnought

News Flash: "The sky is blue" locals blame the Americans!

smilingassassin

It rains alot in Vancouver, must be the Americans fault!

Dreadnought

dalem

"We're gonna need a bigger mustache."

-dale

Officer of Engineers

The Leafs lost. It's the Americans' fault! Well, it is.

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Chimo

Feanor

It's cold outside in Santa Cruz. Damn Americans.

Shamus

Hmmm.....A Russian,complaining that it's cold,while in California ,what's wrong with this picture?? Careful Feanor,this easy capitalist living is making you soft....Which is all the US's fault also.....sorry

smilingassassin

Ok, THAT one IS!! Damn you yanks!!!
*shakes fist*

Well actually the Leafs have a large part in their own demise as well.

Canmoore

200km? wow I cannot believe that this is even making the news.

This is a Bull Shark, Bull sharks are able to survive in fresh water. They have been found 4000km up the Amazon river in Peru, they have also been found up the Mississippi River in Illinois... hell there are more than likely Bulls in the Great Lakes!

Wopti ****, a bull shark found 200km up the Euphrates.. And its the Americans to blame?

...wow