4 health centers opened in Karbala

KARBALA/ IraqiNews.com: Four health centers on Saturday were inaugurated by the Iraqi minister of health in downtown Karbala city, the general director of Karbala’s health department said. “Today, Minister Saleh al-Hasnawi opened four health projects, whose total cost is $3.5 million,” Alaa Hammoudi Bideer told IraqiNews.com. Work on the centers took two years, Bideer explained, adding that they were financed by a U.S. donation. The centers are expected to serve a population of nearly 40,000, Bideer added. Karbala, with an estimated population of 572,300 people in 2003, is the capital of the province and is considered to be one of Shiite Muslims’ holiest cities. The city, 110 km south of Baghdad, is one of Iraq’s wealthiest, profiting both from religious visitors and agricultural produce, especially dates. It is made up of two districts, “Old Karbala,” the religious centre, and “New Karbala,” the residential district containing Islamic schools and government buildings. At the centre of the old city is Masjid al-Hussein, the tomb of Hussein Ibn Ali, grandsone of the Prophet Muhammad by his daughter Fatima al-Zahraa and Ali Ibn Abi Taleb. Imam Hussien’s tomb is a place of pilgrimage for many Shiite Muslims, especially on the anniversary of the battle, the Day of Ashuraa. Many elderly pilgrims travel there to await death, as they believe the tomb to be one of the gates to paradise. On April 14, 2007, a car bomb exploded about 600 ft (200 m) from the shrine, killing 47 and wounding over 150. SS (S) 1