Iraqi city sees hotel boom as pilgrims proliferate

More religious tourists visiting Iraq's Najaf than holy city's current hotels can handle.

Middle East Online

By Prashant Rao - NAJAF

Tourism accounts for about 70% of all employment in Najaf The holy Shiite city of Najaf in central Iraq, home to the shrine of a revered cleric, is in the midst of a hotel building boom in a bid to dramatically ramp up the number of visiting pilgrims. While thousands of mostly Iranian religious tourists already pass through Najaf every day on what are marketed as nine-day tours of Iraq's holy Shiite sites, hoteliers and business groups in the city expect hotel capacity, currently at breaking point, to double in the next three years. "Even if we multiplied the number of hotels in Najaf by 10 times, it would not be enough!" said Farhan Shibli, who already owns two hotels in the city and is building another. "It is a great opportunity for investors, a golden chance -- these two cities, Najaf and Karbala, are ripe for investment in hotels," he added, referring to another holy Shiite shrine city close to Najaf. The chamber of commerce in Najaf, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of Baghdad, estimates about 3,500 pilgrims arrive every day in the city of just 500,000 inhabitants, the vast majority of them from neighbouring Iran. The tourists are mostly on package tours where they spend three days in Najaf principally to visit the shrine of Imam Ali, a seventh century Muslim leader, and three days in Karbala and Baghdad respectively. Karbala, which has a population of 630,000, is the home to shrines to Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas, also revered among Shiites, while Baghdad houses a mausoleum to another such cleric, Imam Kadhim. The tour groups typically also make a day trip to Samarra, north of the capital, to visit the gold-domed Askari shrine there. But Najaf's 130 or so registered hotels are barely able to deal with the influx, to the point where 40-odd sub-standard establishments take in pilgrims, according to the chamber of commerce. "How many tourists come to Najaf depends on hotel capacity," said Zuheir Sharba, chairman of the chamber of commerce. "If there are more rooms, more people will come. The problem is there is no additional capacity right now." Sharba added: "Lots of hotels have rooms with four or five beds, but pilgrims who come don't seem to care. They just want a place to sleep for the night." Shibli concurs, noting that religious tourists will pay money just to sleep in his hotels' lobbies, while others will cram several people into individual rooms. "They just want to use the toilet, have a shower, and visit the shrine," he said. As a result, the Najaf provincial council began giving out permits for new hotel construction two years ago, and hotel capacity is expected to double in the next three years. Among the new buildings will be around 10 four-star complexes, though the provincial council, in a nod to local religious sensitivities, has barred any of them from having a bar or a swimming pool. At the moment, Najaf has just one four-star hotel, the Qasr Dur, around the corner from the Imam Ali shrine. Its manager welcomed the upcoming competition, and said it would be better for his business. "As more four-star and five-star hotels come to Najaf, if anything, our prices could go up," said Salman al-Khatat, arguing that more up-market hotels would help build a bigger customer base. "At the moment, many many people don't even come to Najaf because there are no four-star or five-star hotels." Prices at the Qasr Dur start at $115 a night for a double room, and rise to $250 each night for a suite. By contrast, Shibli's Dhulfiqar hotel charges $70 per night. Most of Shibli's business, however, comes in the form of long-term deals with Iranian tour groups -- of his 60 rooms, 50 are contracted out at a rate of $28 per bed per night. Sharba from the chamber of commerce estimated at least 80 of Najaf's 130 hotels have similar arrangements. The current system is a far cry from tourism in Najaf during the rule of dictator Saddam Hussein, Shibli said. While his family has owned the Dhulfiqar, named after Imam Ali's twin-pronged sword, since 1985, he said that by the time Saddam was ousted by a US-led invasion in 2003, there were around 30 hotels in the city. But hotels have proliferated in line with an increase in tourism, which directly and indirectly accounts for about 70 percent of all employment in Najaf, Sharba said. Whereas in 2001, fewer than 300,000 tourists visited Iraq, that number increased more than five-fold to 1.52 million last year, according to tourism ministry spokesman Abdul Zahra al-Talakani. Talakani said the ministry expects that figure to rise as much as 30 percent this year to approach two million. "It's the main source of income for Najaf and Karbala, and jobs in hotels, restaurants, tourist transport, all of this has improved the economic situation in those cities, as well as surrounding towns and villages. "Religious tourism to Najaf and Karbala," Talakani added, "forms the backbone of all tourism in this country."

Blast kills four Afghan civilians

A US truck of the 502nd Infantry regiment 2nd Batallion clears the road around Kop Ahmed camp near Kandahar city in November 2010. A roadside bomb has killed four civilians in southern Afghanistan, authorities said, as tension over the deaths of non-combatants in military operations rises between Kabul and foreign allies.

AFP - A roadside bomb killed four civilians in southern Afghanistan, authorities said Sunday, as tension over the deaths of non-combatants in military operations rises between Kabul and foreign allies.

The four were killed Saturday when their vehicle struck a bomb planted on a road in Kandahar province, the interior ministry said blaming the strike on the insurgents.

The Taliban frequently use home-made bombs and landmines in their attacks on military targets. The devices however, often kill civilians sharing the same roads with the Afghan and foreign military and security forces.

According to a report by the United Nations and the war-torn country's leading Human Rights body, Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission, 9,000 civilians have lost their lives in crossfire between Afghan and foreign security forces and the rebels since 2007.

The report said 2010 was the deadliest for Afghan civilians since the war began in 2001 with 2,777 deaths, the bulk caused by insurgents.

President Hamid Karzai rejected an apology by the commander of the US-led NATO force earlier this month over the deaths of nine children killed in an air attack carried out by the troops in the province of Kunar.

Karzai on Saturday went to the mountainous and insurgency-troubled province to meet families of the children and called on the Western troops to stop military operations in his battered country.

Karzai urged the US and NATO to shift the war on insurgents to neighbouring Pakistan where Afghan leaders say most insurgent leaders are based and launch attacks on Afghan targets.

Yes to life; No to arms: Lebanese rally against Hezbollah weapons

Pro-West opposition masses for sixth anniversary a popular uprising against Syrian troops in Lebanon.

Middle East Online

By Mohamad Ali Harissi - BEIRUT

No to arms; No to sectarianism Opposition supporters gathered in Beirut Sunday for a mass rally marking the sixth anniversary of a popular uprising against Syrian troops in Lebanon, demanding the disarming of Hezbollah. Cheering and singing, tens of thousands of Lebanese poured into to Martyrs' Square in central Beirut amid tight security early Sunday, waving the national flag and the banners of pro-Western political parties. "We are here to say yes to life and no to their arms," said Adnan Antar, 65, who traveled from the northern port city of Tripoli to attend the rally with his family. "There can be no rule of the state in Lebanon as long as there is the rule of arms," he added, referring to the arsenal of Shiite militant group Hezbollah. Security forces were deployed in force across the country, as convoys could be seen heading to the capital from the north and east, blaring songs and displaying pictures in support of slain former premier Rafiq Hariri. Major highways leading into Beirut were blocked with traffic as supporters of Lebanon's opposition -- led by Rafiq's son, outgoing premier Saad Hariri -- began to voice concerns of infiltrators at the rally. "The fight for them to give up their arms has been political so far... but we will not stand by as witnesses who fear their reaction which could turn violent," said Salim Eid, 46, a supporter of the Christian Lebanese Forces party. "Let's hope they don't have a violent reaction to this rally here today." The anniversary follows a drawn-out political crisis which saw the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah topple Saad Hariri's unity government in January, capping a long-running feud over a UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The tribunal -- tasked with investigating a February 14, 2005 Beirut bombing that killed Rafiq Hariri and 22 others -- is reportedly readying to implicate members of Hezbollah in the killing. Sunni Muslim billionaire Najib Mikati, appointed with Hezbollah's backing, has been tapped to succeed Saad Hariri and has since January 25 sought to form a government. The Hariri-led opposition has announced it will sit out of Mikati's government, which it accuses of being "Hezbollah's cabinet". Rafiq Hariri's assassination saw the rise of a US- and Saudi-backed alliance that became known as March 14, named after a day of massive anti-Syrian protests dubbed the "Cedar Revolution." Combined with international pressure, the protests in the weeks after the killing led to the pullout of Syrian troops from the eastern Mediterranean country in April 2005, ending a 29-year deployment. Red billboards urging supporters of the Hariri camp to head downtown on Sunday lined highways across the capital, bearing slogans such as "NO to assassinations," "NO to oppression" and "NO to the rule of arms." Other billboards, which no party has yet claimed responsibility for, have surfaced in the capital, reading: "Israel too wants to topple arms," in reference to Hezbollah's arsenal which the militant group argues is necessary to defend Lebanon against Israel. Lebanon's opposition has accused Hezbollah, the only party not to have turned in its arms after the 1975-1990 civil war, of having used its arsenal to intimidate MPs into voting against Hariri's re-appointment after his unity cabinet collapsed.

Seven Yemeni protesters killed in fresh unrest

Yemeni security forces – accused of using 'poison gas' – shoot pro-democracy demonstrators in the head.

Middle East Online

Over 30 people were killed since anti-regime protests began ADEN - Two anti-regime protesters died in Yemen on Sunday, a day after police shot them in the head, a medic said, raising the death toll to seven from demonstrations against President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The two succumbed to wounds after "being shot in the head" in the southern city of Aden, said the medic, adding four other demonstrators were in a critical condition after also being shot in the head. On Saturday, two other protesters were killed in Aden, one by police when they opened fire to disperse a demonstration and the other when demonstrators set fire to a police station in the city. A medical official said Saturday hundreds of angry people had set ablaze the police station to protest the death of the protester earlier in the day. Several people were also wounded by gunfire, he said. Elsewhere, a 12-year-old schoolboy was shot dead when police opened fire at a demonstration of students in the southeastern city of Mukalla. And two other people died in the capital Sanaa on Saturday, one as police attacked demonstrators in University Square, where anti-government protesters have been staging a sit-in since February 21. The other was shot dead by a sniper while walking to the square with a group of protesters. Two doctors at the scene in Sanaa said that toxic gas, rather than ordinary tear gas had been used against the protesters, a claim dismissed as slander by the authorities. The European Union, Britain and the United Nations condemned the brutal crackdown. EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton urged Saleh's government to honour promises he had made this week to protect demonstrators and uphold their right to free assembly. The violence comes a day after 14 protesters were wounded in protests across the country. Parts of Sanaa resembled a battleground as people passed out in the street and convulsed after inhaling gas fired at the demonstrators. "This isn't tear gas," said Iraqi doctor Hussein al-Joshaai, a nerve specialist who was at the scene. "This is poison gas that disables the nervous and respiratory systems. People hit by this gas pass out," he added. Another doctor, Abdulwahab al-Inssi, said: "Those wounded today couldn't have been hit by tear gas grenades. They are suffering spasms." The interior ministry denied the allegations as "baseless slander." It accused protesters of opening fire at security forces who had tried to prevent clashes between demonstrators and residents near the square. It said 161 police were injured. Saleh has insisted he will see out his term until 2013 while offering to devolve power to parliament after a referendum on a new constitution this year, an offer that the United States has welcomed. But opposition groups had already dismissed the promise of constitutional change and have vowed to escalate protests until Saleh, in power since 1978, resigns. More than 30 people have been killed since the unrest erupted in late January. US special forces troops are in Yemen helping to train anti-terror forces as the country struggles to contain Al-Qaeda's local offshoot -- described by a State Department official as the biggest threat to the US homeland.

Sultan Qaboos grants Oman parliament legislative powers

Technical committee of specialists to be formed to propose amendments to state basic law.

Middle East Online

The revered Sultan MUSCAT - Oman's Sultan Qaboos on Sunday granted legislative power to the previously toothless Oman Council after weeks of anti-government protests in the strategic Gulf state. "We grant the Oman Council legislative and regulatory powers," said a royal decree carried by ONA state news agency, referring to the elected Majlis Ash-Shura consultative council and the all-appointed Council of State. "A technical committee of specialists is to be formed to propose amendments to the state basic law to this effect," the decree said, adding the committee should present its report to the Sultan within 30 days. The announcement comes a week after the sultan sacked controversial ministers in a major cabinet reshuffle aimed at appeasing rare protests that flared up last month. The economy and interior ministers were among at least 12 cabinet members to lose their jobs in the 29-member cabinet. Demonstrators say they do not want to topple the revered Sultan, but are demanding jobs, better pay and an end to corruption. The reshuffle failed to end a sit-in at Earth Roundabout in the northern city of Sohar, which started on February 27. At least one protester was killed in clashes with police in Sohar on February 27 but Oman has been spared the violence that has gripped other Arab states including Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and neighbouring Yemen. Oman is a Western ally on the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of the world's oil shipments pass. Sultan Qaboos, who has ruled Oman for four decades, earlier announced the creation of 50,000 new jobs, a monthly allowance for registered job seekers and a higher minimum wage for nationals working in the private sector.

Arab League demands UN no-fly zone, opens up to rebels

Arab foreign ministers say Libyan regime 'lost its legitimacy' following 'massive and dangerous violations'.

Middle East Online

By Mona Salem - CAIRO

No mention of other Arab states violations The Arab League on Saturday urged the United Nations to slap a no-fly zone on Libya and said Moamer Gathafi's regime had "lost legitimacy," in a boost for rebels fighting to unseat the strongman. The pan-Arab organisation also announced its recognition of the transitional national council set up by the rebels in their eastern stronghold of Benghazi and said they would open contact with the group. Britain and the United States welcomed the 22-member League's support for a no-fly zone over Libya. Arab foreign ministers concluded crisis talks in Cairo by urging the UN Security Council "to assume its responsibilities in the face of the deteriorating situation in Libya and take the necessary measures to impose an air exclusion zone for Libyan warplanes." They also called in a resolution for the establishment of safe havens "to protect the Libyan people and all other nationals" living in areas subjected to attacks by Gathafi forces. Libyan leader Gathafi's regime "has lost its legitimacy (because of) the massive and dangerous violations" it has committed, said the resolution adopted after the talks at the League's headquarters in the Egyptian capital. The Arab League will "cooperate... with the (opposition) provisional national council and provide support and protection for the Libyan people," it said. The League "remains opposed to foreign intervention", warning however that "failure to act to solve the crisis will lead to foreign intervention," the resolution added. "It is necessary to respect international human rights laws, stop the crimes against the Libyan people, stop the fighting, and withdraw Libyan forces from cities and regions they entered," the resolution said. It insisted that the Libyan people have a "right to achieve their demands" and democracy. Arab League chief Amr Mussa told reporters that the decision to cooperate with the 30-member Libyan transitional council was de facto "recognition" of the opposition group. "We gave them (the council) legitimacy," Oman's foreign affairs chief, Yussef bin Alawi, told reporters. Diplomats earlier said that nine of the 11 foreign ministers present had backed plans for a no-fly zone. Algeria and Syria had voted against. Syria's ambassador to the Arab League, Yussef Ahmad, warned at the meeting that a no-fly zone could pave the way for foreign intervention in Libya. But Mussa himself called for a no-fly zone as proposed by Western countries and said he wanted the pan-Arab organisation to play a role in imposing it, in an interview published on Saturday. "The United Nations, the Arab League, the African Union, the Europeans -- everyone should participate," Mussa told German weekly Der Spiegel. "I am talking about a humanitarian action. It consists, with a no-fly zone, of supporting the Libyan people in their fight for freedom against a regime that is more and more disdainful." Following the Cairo resolution, White House spokesman Jay Carney said: "We welcome this important step by the Arab League, which strengthens the international pressure on Gathafi and support for the Libyan people. "The international community is unified in sending a clear message that the violence in Libya must stop, and that the Gathafi regime must be held accountable," he added in a statement. In London, a Foreign Office spokeswoman described League backing for the no-fly zone as "very significant". "The outcome of today's Arab League meeting shows Gathafi's actions do not have support in the region," she said. The national council on March 5 declared itself Libya's sole representative at its first meeting in Benghazi, the rebel stronghold city in the North African country's east. Ahead of the crisis talks the group appealed to the League for recognition and urged backing for a no-fly zone to curb attacks on its fighters, in a letter to Mussa. Britain and France have drawn up a Security Council resolution on a no-fly zone (NFZ) to counter Gathafi's assault on rebel forces, but the resolution faces opposition from China and Russia. France on Thursday became the first country to recognise Libya's opposition, a move which prompted the Gadhafi regime to suspend its ties with Paris over its "illegal" decision.

Witnesses: King supporters confront Bahrain students

By the CNN Wire Staff

March 13, 2011 -- Updated 1149 GMT (1949 HKT)

Bahraini police fired tear gas to disperse protesters demonstrating near Pearl Square on Sunday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• About 5,000 university students demonstrate against the government
• It's one of several protests in Bahrain Sunday, eyewitnesses say
• U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visits the strategically important kingdom
• Bahrain has been hit by weeks of protests as unrest sweeps the Arab world

(CNN) -- Supporters of the rulers of Bahrain threatened about 5,000 university students protesting against the government at Bahrain University Sunday, eyewitnesses said.

About 150 supporters of the royal family tried to get onto the campus, but only some managed to get in. An unknown number of people were injured, but it's not clear how many or how badly.

Security forces tried to prevent the regime supporters from entering the campus, and allowed people to leave the grounds but not to enter.

The tense standoff was one of at least three protests Sunday against the rulers of the small Gulf kingdom triggered by popular demonstrations that brought down the long-time presidents of Tunisia and Egypt earlier this year.

The latest protests came a day after America's defense secretary said he's "convinced" that Bahrain's royal leaders are "serious about real reform and moving forward," but emphasized that they must move quickly.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates was visiting the restive and strategically important island kingdom, where he huddled with King Hamad and Crown Prince Salman and talked about the importance of engaging with opposition forces.

"I think that the concern now is that it's important that they have somebody to talk to and that the opposition be willing to sit down with the government and carry this process forward," he said.

On Sunday, some 250 young people organized a protest in front of Bahrain Financial Harbor in the capital Manama, witnesses said.

Text messages exchanged between them and others in the area warned of regime supporters approaching from Muharak, another island, but it's not clear the warnings are accurate.

Police and anti-riot squads stationed near the harbor fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters, leaving 20 injured, according to Salmanya Hospital. Al Wasat cameraman Mohammed Al-Mukharaq was among the seriously injured, his editor said.

The government says protest camp tents were "removed," but did not say how.

Many protesters mobilized to block off King Faisal highway to prevent the pro-regime groups from entering Bahrain's main island.

The government and eyewitnesses disagree about how the blockade ended.

Eyewitnesses and journalists say security officers asked them to disband and open the highway, and they complied.

The government said attempts by uniformed police officers to persuade the protesters to re-open the road reached an impasse and that a group of protesters attacked unarmed police officers, resulting in one police officer being stabbed and another sustaining a serious head injury.

Police then sought to disperse approximately 350 protesters by using tear gas in order to clear the road, the government statement said.

"The Ministry of Interior is currently undergoing operations to reopen the King Faisal Highway and advised all protesters to return to the Pearl Roundabout for their own safety," the government statement said.

The roundabout has been the center of protests in the kingdom for a month.

Bahrain, which sits in the Persian Gulf and is the base of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, has been wracked by anti-government protests since mid-February.

Sunni Muslims -- even though they are a minority in the kingdom -- dominate the government of Bahrain.

The Shiite Muslim majority has staged protests in recent years to complain about discrimination, unemployment and corruption, issues they say the country's Sunni rulers have done little to address.

Many of them are in the anti-government coalition that has been demanding reform as part of the eruption of discontent sweeping across the Arab world for the past several months. They have staged dramatic protests and camped out in the capital's Pearl Roundabout

Initially, protesters took to the streets of Manama to demand reform and the introduction of a constitutional monarchy. But some are now calling for the removal of the royal family that has led the Persian Gulf state since the 18th century.

Bahrain is in the shadow of Iran, a predominantly Shiite country and antagonist of Bahrain's close ally, the United States.

But Gates told reporters Saturday he "expressed the view that we had no evidence that suggested that Iran started any of these popular revolutions or demonstrations across the region."

However, he said, there's evidence that Iranians "are looking for ways to exploit" the protracted processes unfolding in the region, "particularly in Bahrain."

Three hard-line groups in the Gulf kingdom -- the Haq, Wafa and Bahrain Freedom Movement -- have united and called for the ruling family to step aside, they announced this week.

The new coalition is calling for a democratic republic with no ruling family -- a step further than other opposition groups, which are calling for a constitutional monarchy.

It appeared the hard-line groups represented a minority of the protesters at the roundabout.

In response to the protests, the government has promised to build 50,000 new housing units and hire an additional 20,000

police officers, roughly doubling the size of the force. Members of Bahrain's majority Shiite Muslim community are not allowed to join the force.

Bahrain's king reshuffled his Cabinet last month as protesters continued to call for reforms. He has also touted a "national dialogue" and urged Bahrainis "to engage in this new process" and "move away from polarization."

Journalist Mansoor Al-Jamri and CNN's Christine Theodorou and Jenifer Fenton contributed to this report.