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| Iraq |
| Iraq bans Farsi signs in holy cities |
| 2009-02-16 |
| Iraq's Interior Minister Jawad Bolani on Saturday imposed a ban on signs in foreign languages in Shiite holy cities, in an apparent reference to Farsi, the official language of Iran. "Mr Bolani has ordered that all phrases in foreign languages be removed from public places and services in Najaf and all the other holy cities in Iraq," his ministry said. Signs in Farsi are common in public restrooms and other facilities used by the hundreds of thousands of Iranian pilgrims who yearly visit Shiite Islam's holiest sites in the cities of Najaf and Karbala, both south of Baghdad. Most Shiite Muslims visit Najaf, the home of Shiite Islam's most revered shrine of Imam Ali, and later tour Karbala, which is home to the shrines of Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas. Bolani, himself a Shiite, is an independent secular politician. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 I don't know, if I lived in Karbala or Najaf I'd be kind of pissed about this. Sounds like a recipe for hordes of Persian bumpkins pissing on my doorstep because they can't find the public toilets on account of all the Farsi "bathroom thataway" signs being torn down. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2009-02-16 15:46 |
| #4 Sistani has consistently stepped up as an ally to an Iraqi government free from Iranian influence. He was probably the first cleric in Iraq to understand that partnership with the US was the only way to keep the nutjobs in Iran at bay. I like the guy more everyday. He was a real pain in the butt until AQ blew up the Mosque in Najaf. |
| Posted by: James Carville 2009-02-16 15:34 |
| #3 Courageous move. It is also a move that reinforces the local clergy in supremacy against Iranian mullahs. This allows Iraqi Shia complete control of the holy places of Shia. It is equivalent to putting the Iranian mullahs under the heel of Iraqi clerics. Iraq's Ayatollah Sistani is probably happy for this. |
| Posted by: Lagom 2009-02-16 13:14 |
| #2 There are some nuances here. If he is a Shiite, then it is probably sending any number of signals to the Iranians. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-02-16 09:11 |
| #1 Big mistake/. |
| Posted by: newc 2009-02-16 02:06 |