Cleric-funded housing project in Karbala

KARBALA / IraqiNews.com: A local company on Saturday embarked on a residential compound project of eight buildings as funded by top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Karbala at a cost of 3 billion Iraqi dinars (roughly $2.500 million), according to an engineer overseeing the project. “The compound, named Imam Ali bin Moussa al-Rida, lies in the area of al-Bobiyat, (2 km) north of the shrine of Imam al-Hussein and will be built over 5,000 square meters,” Mohammed Shakir Hameed told IraqiNews.com news agency. The project “was upon the directives and financing from Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Sistani,” said Hameed. He added that the project is composed of eight buildings, each containing 64 apartments, noting each apartment is 80 square meters in space. “The project will be given to the impoverished families and orphans in implementation of the cleric,” he said. The holy Shiite city of Karbala lies 110 km southwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (P)/SR 1