Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://thearabweekly.com/iraq-allow-40000-foreigners-attend-arbaeen-pilgrimage
Iraq to allow 40,000 foreigners to attend Arbaeen pilgrimage
The committee, presided over by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, said foreign pilgrims would be allowed to arrive only by air.
Saturday 11/09/2021
BAGHDAD--Due to the pandemic, Iraq will allow only 40,000 foreigners, 30,000 of them from Iran, to attend the Arbaeen pilgrimage later this month in the Shia shrine city of Karbala, authorities said Sunday.
Arbaeen marks the end of the 40-day mourning period for the killing of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, by the forces of the caliph Yazid in 680 AD.
The annual pilgrimage usually sees millions of worshippers, mostly Iraqis and Iranians, converge on the central city of Karbala on foot.
Some 14 million attended in 2019, according to official figures, a third of them foreigners who came mostly from Iran, the Gulf, Pakistan and Lebanon.
Last year, Baghdad limited the number of foreigners to 1,500 per country because of the risk of COVID-19 infection.
This year, “30,000 pilgrims from the Islamic republic of Iran”, Iraq’s Shia-majority neighbour, will be allowed to attend, according to a decision by Iraq’s health and security committee...
Iraq to allow 40,000 foreigners to attend Arbaeen pilgrimage
The committee, presided over by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, said foreign pilgrims would be allowed to arrive only by air.
Saturday 11/09/2021
BAGHDAD--Due to the pandemic, Iraq will allow only 40,000 foreigners, 30,000 of them from Iran, to attend the Arbaeen pilgrimage later this month in the Shia shrine city of Karbala, authorities said Sunday.
Arbaeen marks the end of the 40-day mourning period for the killing of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, by the forces of the caliph Yazid in 680 AD.
The annual pilgrimage usually sees millions of worshippers, mostly Iraqis and Iranians, converge on the central city of Karbala on foot.
Some 14 million attended in 2019, according to official figures, a third of them foreigners who came mostly from Iran, the Gulf, Pakistan and Lebanon.
Last year, Baghdad limited the number of foreigners to 1,500 per country because of the risk of COVID-19 infection.
This year, “30,000 pilgrims from the Islamic republic of Iran”, Iraq’s Shia-majority neighbour, will be allowed to attend, according to a decision by Iraq’s health and security committee...