Maliki meets top cleric Sistani in Najaf
Baghdad, 20 July 2008 (Voices of Iraq) ~
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met on Sunday with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the holy Shiite city of Najaf, according to the state-owned TV al-Iraqiya.
The Iraqi premier had arrived earlier in the day in Najaf to inaugurate an airport, the semi-official broadcaster said, giving no more details.
Maliki said that the inauguration of the Najaf International Airport is an indicator of the new Iraq, noting that the former regime’s marginalization of the city “has gone for good.”
“The inauguration of the airport is a clear message about the building of the new Iraq,” Maliki said in a speech he delivered during the inauguration ceremony.
The airport inauguration ceremony was attended by Najaf Governor Asaad Abu Kalal, the minister of interior, Jawad al-Bulani, and other officials.
Speaking to Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI) yesterday, Deputy Governor Abdelhussein Abtan said that the airport will mark a turning point in the Iraqi economy and will help boost tourism and trade in the country.
The ceremony was also attended by the head of the Shahid al-Mihrab Foundation, Ammar al-Hakim; the Iraqi minister of oil, Hussein al-Shahrestani; the minister of electricity, Kareem Waheed; and the minister of national security, Shirwan al-Waili.
Najaf, Iraq’s holiest Shiite city, lies 160 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. Najaf is renowned as the site of the tomb of Ali Ibn Abi Taleb (also known as “Imam Ali”), whom Shiites consider to be the righteous caliph and first imam. The city is now a great center of pilgrimage from throughout the Shiite Islamic world. It is estimated that only Mecca and Medina receive more Muslim pilgrims. The Imam Ali Mosque is housed in a grand structure with a gilded dome and many precious objects in its walls.