Ar Rutba

Ar Rutbah (Arabic: الرطبة‎, also known as Rutba, Rutbah, or Ar Rutba) is an Iraqi town in western Al Anbar province. The population is approximately 55,000. It occupies a strategic location on the Amman-Baghdad road, and the Mosul-Haifa oil pipeline. Considered a "wet spot", it receives 114.3 mm (4.5 inches) of rain annually, and is located on a high plateau. During British administration, Rutbah Wells, as it was then known, was a stopover for Imperial Airways on flights from Britain to India and the Gulf Region. Aircraft routed Cairo - Gaza - Rutbah Wells - Bagdhad. It was also a water stop on the overland drive from Baghdad to Damascus; travelers who stopped lodged in a fort. 16kilometers South off Rutbah (Rutbah Wells, in 1934), the...