Cabinet allocates ID1 billion to provide services to Shiite visitors in Karbala

KARBALA / IraqiNews.com: The Council of Ministers has allocated one billion Iraqi dinars to provide services to Shiite visitors in Karbala, Karbala’s mayor said on Thursday. “The amount is allocated to provide food, tenets, to boost security at checkpoints and to honor security elements who arrest terrorists,” Engineer Amal al-Din al-Herr told IraqiNews.com news agency. Tight security measures have been in force and a large number of security personnel have been deployed in Iraq’s holy sites in preparation for the Arbaeen pilgrimage. The Arbaeen pilgrimage is a religious occasion marking the 40th day after the death of Imam al-Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson and the third holiest figure for Shiite Muslims, in the battle of Taf in Karbala in the Hijri year 61 (680 in the Gregorian calendar). Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from inside and outside Iraq were flowing on foot into the city for the holy rituals. Karbala, said to be housing the tombs of Imam al-Hussein and his brother Imam al-Abbas, lies 110 km southwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. SH (P)/SR 2