Shafaq News- Najaf
Najaf provincial authorities are finalizing arrangements to host theIraqi stage of the funeral procession for Iran's late Supreme Leader AliKhamenei, the country's highest political and religious authority for more thanthree decades, with the main march scheduled to begin on July 8, a provincialofficial told Shafaq News on Saturday.
The procession will set out at 6:00 a.m. Wednesday from al-Sadr TeachingHospital in the southern part of the city overpass toward the shrine of ImamAli bin Abi Taleb, one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam, according toHaidar Kaboun, director of the Rituals and Mass Pilgrimages Department at theNajaf provincial administration. A committee overseeing the event has held itsthird planning meeting and is arranging services and logistics for mournersalong the route, he said.
Registrations point to a turnout well beyond the groups confirmed sofar. More than 60 Husseini processions, volunteer groups that provide food,water and services to religious pilgrims, have signed up, a figure Kabounexpects to exceed 100, with most stationed along the march route.
Najaf will stage two separate programs, according to Governor YoussefKanawi. The first is an official ceremony attended by state leaders, heads ofpolitical blocs, cabinet ministers and members of parliament; the second is apublic procession open to the wider community.
The office of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi also instructed governmentministries and administrative units to assign buses to transport participantsto the ceremonies in Najaf and Karbala, an informed source told Shafaq News.
Khamenei was killed on February 28. Iraq's role in the funeral islimited to the provinces of Najaf and Karbala, two cities central to Shiitereligious life, where organizers expect mass participation.
Under the announced schedule, Khamenei's body will be flown from theIranian holy city of Qom to Najaf International Airport, then taken to theshrine of Imam Ali for farewell rites. The procession will continue to Karbala—home to the shrine of Imam Hussein bin Ali, another of Shiite Islam's holiestsites— passing along Al-Abbas Street to the area between the two shrines,before the body returns to Najaf airport for transfer to the Iranian city ofMashhad, where Khamenei is to be buried at the shrine of Imam Ali bin Mousaal-Rida (Imam Reza) on July 9.
Official funeral ceremonies began in Tehran on Friday andare scheduled to continue for about a week before burial, according to thecommittee organizing the ceremonies.
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