Explosives found in Najaf

Najaf-Explosives NAJAF / IraqiNews.com: Police forces on Monday found a suitcase containing 21 bars of C4 in western Najaf, the chief of customs police said. “Police forces found the suitcase in Burga al-Zubaida region in western Najaf,” Colonel Mohamed Abdul Khaleq al-Bahash told IraqiNews.com. “The operation was based on a tip-off,” he also said. Najaf, about 160 km south of Baghdad, has an estimated population of 900,600 in 2008, though this has increased significantly since 2003 due to immigration from abroad. The city is one of the holiest cities of Shiite Islam and the center of Shiite political power in Iraq. 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. SH (S)/SR 1