Water, electricity projects set up near Karbala

KARBALA / IraqiNews.com: A water project has been implemented in the west of Karbala city, while another electricity project has been launched in the same area as part of the provincial development projects for the year 2008, a local official said on Wednesday. “A local company has set up a pure water network in al-Sawada area, al-Hurr district (5 km west of Karbala city) at a cost of 1.5 million Iraqi dinars (1 U.S. dollar = 1,118 Iraqi dinars); while another company has begun work on an electricity project, whose total cost is 64.5 million dinars in the same district,” the chairman of Karbala’s provincial council told IraqiNews.com. 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 center of the old city is Masjid al-Hussein, the tomb of Hussein Ibn Ali, grandson 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)/SR 1