Cabinet OKs opening of Iranian consulate in Najaf

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi cabinet has approved the opening of an Iranian consulate in Najaf province to regulate the affairs of Iranian visitors to the holy city. “The approval has been made to strengthen diplomatic relations and to facilitate the movement of visitors between the two neighboring countries,” an official spokesperson for the Iraqi government, Ali al-Dabbagh, said in a release received by IraqiNews.com news agency. The Iraqi government will maintain its right to open a consulate in Iran in the future, the spokesperson added. Najaf, about 160 km south of Baghdad, has an estimated population of 900,600 in 2008, though this has increased significantly since 2003 due to immigration from abroad. The city is one of the holiest cities of Shiite Islam and the center of Shiite political power in Iraq. Najaf is renowned as the site of the tomb of Ali ibn Abi Taleb (also known as “Imam Ali”), whom Shiites consider to be the righteous caliph and first imam. The city is now a great center of pilgrimage from throughout the Shiite Islamic world. It is estimated that only Mecca and Medina receive more Muslim pilgrims. The Imam Ali Mosque is housed in a grand structure with a gilded dome and many precious objects in its walls. SS (S) 1