KARBALA, Iraq: More than 15,000 security elements have been deployed in Karbala in preparations for the Al-Ziyara al-Shaabaniya (mid-Shaaban pilgrimage), according to a media police source.

“Security authorities started to implement the security plan of the mid-Shaaban pilgrimage, which will last until next Wednesday,” Major Alaa Abbas al-Ghanemi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Al-Ziyara al-Shaabaniya is a Shiite pilgrimage to revive the memory of the birth of the Messiah-like Imam al-Mahdi, the 12th holiest figure for Shiite Muslims.

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 center, 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.

As the yearly ceremonies marking the eight-century martyrdom of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim are 3 days away, Baghdad Operations Command said that security measure to protect the visitors were taken in Kazimiyah and its surroundings adding that a curfew will be imposed during the ceremonies. Baghdad Government and Operations commend mentioned the services that will be offered for the visitors.
In fact officials said that hundreds of buses will be provided for visitors and dozens of health care units will be deployed.
To that, in order to protect the security of the visitors heading towards Kazimiah, Baghdad Operations Command issued a decision that bans holding any kinds of arms and branding pictures for any political figure or religious men

Ahlul Bayt News Agency , Alnaser Airlines, Iraq’s first private airline established in 2009, started its daily flights from Dubai to Iraq last week. The flights are running to their full capacity of 140 passengers.

The airline, owned by an Iraqi national, Shaikh Hussain Al Khawam, has started a joined venture with the US-owned FK Gryphon Airlines, which in 2008 started commercial operations in Iraq and Kuwait.

The first port of stop for Alnaser Airlines was Kuwait, a country that came under attack from Iraq in 1991. “We wanted Kuwait to be the first [stop], to break the barriers between the two countries,” said Executive Vice-President of Gryphon Airlines, Abdullah Al Tammar.

He explained why FK Gryphon made its entry into the Iraq market: “The country has several religious spots and holy shrines that many people would like to visit.”

As for the timing of launching an airline in Iraq, which is still facing lethal attacks, Al Tammar said: “Life has to go on. We cannot let the terrorists win.”

The Dubai-Baghdad route follows the Baghdad-Kuwait and Kuwait-Najaf routes, with more destinations to come soon. Both Najaf and Karbala house shrines revered by Shias.

“We are eyeing East Asia, particularly China, as well as Europe, with current talks on Iraq-Germany routes,” said Al Tammar.

Currently, the joint venture utilises seven aircraft, three supplied by Alnaser and four by Gryphon.

“We operate in Kuwait as a joint venture between Alnaser and Gryphon – sometimes we fly our own carrier, sometimes they fly with their planes… we have a commercial agreement,” he said.

The size of Gryphon’s fleet is to be increased as the company is in the process of buying a second airline from the Gulf Co-operation Council region. “Gryphon will own a second airline within two months, and we hope that it will compete [well] in the aviation industry,” added Al Tammar.

“The economic situation being what it is, there should be more consolidation and alliances between companies, so there can be a continual and sufficient budget flow,” he said.

Meanwhile, profits are expected in the second year of operation, and will grow if stability returns to the war-torn country.

“We cannot disclose figures for the time being, as we are still in very early stages. The real worth of the agreement will come to light later,” said John Mohamed, Director of Middle East Sales of Gryphon Holdings.

According to Al Tammar, Alnaser has a grand future, especially with the private sector growing in Iraq.

“For the first time, there is a private airline in Iraq. And there is co-operation between Alnaser and the national carrier, Iraqi Airlines, not to mention the help received by Alnaser for its AOC [air operator certificate].”

BAGHDAD / Ayatollah Mohammed Taqee al-Modarrisee warned that Iraq could return to square-1 through sectarian civil war.“There are attempts to restore violence,” al-Modarrisee said on Tuesday while addressing a group of his followers in his Hawza in Karbala city.

He stressed that he warns of those who want to divide Iraq.

“They should take their evil wish with them to the grave,” al-Modarrisee noted.

He said that Iraqis have elements of strength, especially their religion, which enable them to face their enemies.

“Politicians have to understand that Iraq is standing at a cross-roads,” al-Modarrisee pointed out.

He said that foreign countries are attempting to manipulate the political process to get Iraq back to sectarian war.

The holy city of Karbala lies 110 km southwest of Baghdad.

The families of Iraqi civilians who has been shown in a leaked video being shot and killed by a US military helicopter in 2007, have demanded justice.

The shocking footage that released by WikiLeaks website earlier this week, shows US military helicopters shooting a group of Iraqis, killing 12 civilians, including two employees of the Reuters news agency, on a Baghdad square in 2007.

The Pentagon confirmed the authenticity of the video, but said that two investigations into the incident cleared the aircrew of any wrongdoing.

The victims’ families, however, want the US military personnel responsible for the killings to be taken to court.

Hundreds of Iraqis have taken to the streets in the southern city of Basra to demand the nationwide recount of votes from the country’s March 7 parliamentary elections.  The demonstrators who support Prime Minister Nouri Maliki’s demand for a manual recount of around 12 million ballots, gathered outside the provincial government’s offices in Basra on Wednesday.

They held placards reading “We demand a recount,” and shouted “No! No to fraud, Yes! Yes to Maliki, Yes! Yes to Iraq.”  Hundreds of people had also took to the streets of Najaf and Karbala a few days ago to protest the results which gave Maliki’s main rival, former premier Iyad Allawi a slim lead in a tight election race, based on 95 percent of votes cast.

Over the weekend, the national election commission rebuffed Maliki’s demand for a manual recount of the ballots cast, saying as it had not seen any widespread fraud in the election, any recount is unnecessary. It said that political parties and groups would have to present evidence of wrongdoing to substantiate their complaints before full results are announced on Friday.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the heads of 10 provincial councils called for the election commission to authorize a recount of the votes due to the possibility of fraud “and manipulation of the election results.”  The statement said “if the commission does not respond to the demand of the provincial councils … the 10 provinces will begin a major escalation of measures.”

A member of Iraq’s National Alliance (INA) has warned that the US is possibly attempting to manipulate the results of the country’s general elections as the release of the vote tally was postponed again.

INA candidate, Entifadh Qanbar told press TV that the United States might try to intervene in the process of vote counting through the High Electoral Commission.

“The concern is that how the ballots from each voting center are going to be processed in the computer center inside the Electoral Commission,” Qanbar said.

“The reason we are insisting on this issue is that we are afraid there is some sort of American intervention inside the Electoral Commission in processing these numbers and may be altering these numbers,” he added.

Qanbar said that his alliance would not “accept any election results without putting the ballots out to prove that the ballots have been processed and entered in the computer system in a proper way.”

The Election Commission has postponed until Thursday the announcement of the preliminary results of the country’s parliamentary elections with reports suggesting that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s the State of Law Coalition is ahead.

Meeting with vote-counters at the Independent High Electoral Commission on Wednesday, top United Nations envoy Ad Melkert called on election officials to release the results as soon as possible, AP reported.

“Now we hope, that as soon as possible, preliminary results can be made public because Iraqis have the right to know as soon as possible what is the outcome of their choice of the Election Day,” Melkert said.

Election Commission officials also withdrew an earlier announcement that the preliminary results would be released Wednesday night.

According to Qassim al-Aboudi, a senior member of the panel, initial results would likely be released on Thursday.

Iraqi government has rejected Saudi media’s reports that the government wants to arrest top Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr upon his arrival in Iraq.

According to Shiite News Correspondent,”The news report that Mugtada al-Sadr would be arrested on his arrival in Iraq, is fake and for propaganda purposes,” a source in the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said.

Sadr also warned in a statement that the “rumor” is aimed at “instigating” rifts ahead of general elections due on March 7 in the country.

The rumor comes while Maliki has warned against the money being injected in the country’s electoral process from foreign sources.

A visit by the former Iraqi prime minister and head of the secular al-Iraqiya alliance, Iyad Allawi, to Saudi Arabia last week provoked fierce controversy in the country.

Arab-language Nahrainnet news website quoted last week unnamed Saudi officials that Saudi authorities have told Allawi that they have allocated “billions of dollars to buy votes in Iraq’s upcoming elections” with the aim of securing parliamentary seats for “Liberals” and “atheists.”

Maliki said: “I do not see any problems with some Iraqi politicians’ visit with another country’s authorities; but if they want to talk on Iraq future, future government, and the future prime minister, then I deem it treacherous to our country.”

Iraq’s second general election since former dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003 is being seen as key to consolidating a fledgling democracy and ensuring a smooth exit of all US combat troops by the end of 2011.

The head of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, Syed Ammar al-Hakeem, warned from what he called as plots against Iraq.

According to the Shiite News Correspondent, Ammar Al-Hakeem stated before a crowd of Muthana people “The next stage is so critical and important in the history of Iraq and we have to follow the model of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (SAWW) and his progeny (AS).”
He assured “We are in need of the efforts of all Iraqis to participate in the next elections to elect the best candidates as the religious authority, Ayatullah Syed Ali al-Sistani, stressed in his statement.”
“Our duty is great to realize the dreams of the Iraqis,” he added, noting that “The Iraqi National Alliance is the capable slate to assume the responsibilities and to defend the Iraqis rights.”
“We will keep on fighting corrupted people and support all the young people,” he concluded.
Without naming Saudi regime, he criticized the elements which are involved in the plots of vote buying and promoting the tribal differences among the Iraqi’s for their evil desires.
However, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has issued a Fatwa (religious ruling), declaring vote-buying as Haraam (forbidden) ahead of the country’s parliament elections.
It may be noted here that the Iraqi parliament’s election will be held on March 7. United States and Saudi Arabia are hatching the conspiracies to buy the vote for Saddam loyalists Baathist regime.

Thousands of people in holy city of Karbala staged protest demonstration against the decision to to allow hundreds of former Saddam loyalists to run in next month’s general elections.

The enraged protesters demanded of the Iraqi Government to not allow the Saddam loyalists (Baathist) to take part in upcoming election in Iraq.

It may be noted here that the an appeals panel overturned the ban on the former Baathists running for office on Wednesday. The ban was ordered by a commission that was set up in an attempt to ensure that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s Baath party won’t return to public life.  Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government has called the ruling illegal.

People across Iraq have also held massive rallies in protest against the appeals panel’s decision.

The US has defended the lifting of the ban on former Baathists. General elections in Iraq will be held on March 7th.

The leader of the Sadr Trend, Muqtada al-Sadr, urged Iraqis to participate in the next elections.
Answering a question over the benefit of the participation in the next elections, he said “The participation is a must in order to provide services, to prevent exploiting the public money and to liberate Iraq from the occupation of US and other allied forces.”
He added “People should participate to dismiss those who are not qualified for ruling Iraq.”
“For achieving these aims and other aims we should participate in the next elections,” he concluded.

Gunmen in a speeding car opened fire on Wednesday in the Iraqi capital at two buses carrying Iranian pilgrims, killing an Iranian woman and an Iraqi driver, the Baghdad security command said.
Wounded were transported to Al Hakim Hospital in Al Sheala region for treatment, the source added. Although an Iranian Authority said wounded will transport to Iran if needed.
The attack on a main road in Al Adel District, northwestern Baghdad Baghdad also wounded five Iranian pilgrims, according to a report. Pilgrims were traveling from holy city of Najaf to holy city of Kazemayn.
The attack came after two bloody days in Baghdad in which more than 50 people were killed by suicide car bombs targeting main hotels and an interior ministry office.
The assaults broke a seven-week lull in major attacks on the capital as Iraq heads into a pivotal general election on March 7 that could set it more firmly on the path to stability or potentially widen its sectarian and ethnic divisions.
The Imam Moussa al-Kazim (AS)shrine, an important Shi’ite Muslim site, lies in the neighborhood where Wednesday’s attack occurred.
The area was cordoned off after the attack, while police and Iraqi soldiers searched for the perpetrators.

Hezbollah has denounced the statement made by a leading Saudi cleric against the Muslim Shiite sect and Iraqi Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Al-Sistani.
 
In a Friday sermon in the Saudi capital Riyadh, Mohammad Al-Ureifi launched an attack on Iraqi Shiites, accusing them, among other things, of being “majousiya” [or Magi, a priestly caste in ancient Persia supposed to have occult powers], and of conspiring with the Houthis in Yemen, with Iran’s support, against Saudi Arabia. He went on to call Sayyed Ali Al-Sistani, an “atheist and debauched.”
 
In its statement, Hezbollah condemned the mentioned speech as “inauspicious,” noting that it sought to undermine the Islamic Shiite sect, its beliefs and history and to insult one of our most prominent religious references, Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Al-Sistani.
 
“The insults against Sayyed Sistani are unacceptable and cannot be issued from a human being having just some mind or understanding or religion or dignity,” the statement read out.
 
Hezbollah emphasized that the Islamic Shiite sect is not in need of a testimony concerning its Islam, belonging, history and sacrifices from this cleric and those who resemble him. “Whatever he said is rejected and turns to him,” the statement said.
 
“Sayyed Sistani is more solemn and sublime than those who can be affected by such unfair campaigns,” Hezbollah said, adding that the mentioned campaigns couldn’t have any effect on his eminence’s person and pioneer role. “Insulting Sayyed Sistani is an offense to all our references, scholars, mujahideen and martyrs and therefore is subject to condemnation.”
 
Hezbollah concluded its statement by calling on the Saudi authorities to put an end to all those who resemble the mentioned cleric, those who propagate for sedition and “incite Muslims to fight each other” in a way that only serves the Islam and the nation’s enemies, especially if these clerics were official employees in the Saudi religious institutions