Larijani in Najaf to meet top Shiite cleric

NAJAF / IraqiNews.com: Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani on Tuesday arrived on an unofficial visit to Najaf to meet top Shiite cleric Ali al-Sistani, according to an Iraqi media source. “Today, Larijani arrived in Najaf from Karbala. He visited the site of the tomb of Imam Ali Ibn Abi Taleb and Imam Mohsen al-Hakeem. He also headed to the residence of Imam Khomeini in the province,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. Meanwhile, a source from Sistani’s office said that Larijani will meet with the Shiite cleric, as well as other religious figures, on Wednesday. Larijani’s last visit to Iraq was on April, 29, 2007, when he was the secretary general of the Iranian National Security Council. Najaf, about 160 km south of Baghdad, had 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