Iraq bans Farsi signs in holy cities

Hundreds of thousands of Iranian pilgrims yearly visit the holiest sites (File)

BAGHDAD (AlArabiya.net, AFP)

Iraq's Interior Minister Jawad Bolani on Saturday imposed a ban on signs in foreign languages in Shiite holy cities, in an apparent reference to Farsi, the official language of Iran.

"Mr Bolani has ordered that all phrases in foreign languages be removed from public places and services in Najaf and all the other holy cities in Iraq," his ministry said.

Signs in Farsi are common in public restrooms and other facilities used by the hundreds of thousands of Iranian pilgrims who yearly visit Shiite Islam's holiest sites in the cities of Najaf and Karbala, both south of Baghdad.

Most Shiite Muslims visit Najaf, the home of Shiite Islam's most revered shrine of Imam Ali, and later tour Karbala, which is home to the shrines of Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas.

Bolani, himself a Shiite, is an independent secular politician.