Arbil conf. to standardize Friday sermons

ARBIL / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs on Tuesday held an Arbil-based conference on the standardization of Friday sermons. The three-day conference, entitled ‘Towards a modern religious discourse,’ was attended by Kurdistan Prime Minister Negervan Barazani and the endowments minister, Mohammed Shakili. A total of 400 clergymen participated in the conference, which was also attended by IraqiNews.com news agency. There is an estimated 4,000 mosques in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, including 1,803 where religious sermons are preached on Fridays. SS (P) 1