Sadr urges followers to visit Samarra for unified prayer

NAJAF / IraqiNews.com: Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr on Saturday called on his followers to head to Samarra city this Friday to participate in the commemoration of the death anniversary of the 11th imam for Shiite Muslims and to hold a unified prayer at his holy shrine. “I call on believers to visit the two shrines of al-Askari imams in the holy city of Samarra on the occasion of the martyrdom of Imam al-Hassan al-Askari on 8 th Rabie al-Awwal (the third month in the Islamic calendar),” according to a statement released by Sadr’s Najaf-based office and received by IraqiNews.com news agency. The Shiite leader urged the Iraqi government to protect the gathering. SS (P)/SR 1