Emotional Ahmadinejad moved to tears at Shiite shrine
BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shed tears during a midnight visit to one of the most revered sites in Shiite Islam, a highlight of his two-day trip to neighbouring Iraq that ended Monday.
Ahmadinejad's emotional pilgrimage to the shrine of Imam Musa Kadhim in the early hours of Monday morning was the religious high point of a high-profile visit dominated by diplomacy.
The Iranian president, a devout Muslim, was seen to shed tears as he stood clutching a prayer sheet before the ornate silver cage protecting the tombs of Kadhim and another famed Imam, Mohammed al-Jawad.
Aides stood aside respectfully as Ahmadinejad then reverently pressed his forehead against the gilded cage, which protects the tombs of the seventh and ninth Imams -- among the 12 revered leaders from the 8th and 9th centuries who helped form Shiite Islam.
The two-hour visit began midnight Sunday when a white Chevrolet jeep containing Ahmadinejad and his aides pulled up at the Al-Morrad, one of three cobblestoned entrances to the shrine, from which vehicles are normally banned.
Shrine administrator Abu Fadhel al-Anbari guided Ahmadinejad around the site. His staff, wearing traditional red and green fez-type hats known as kasheedas, also personally welcomed the Iranian leader.
"God is the greatest, there is no God but Allah," the shrine Imam sang to the entourage as Ahmadinejad prepared to enter the shrine mosque, head bowed in prayer.
Known for his piety as well as for his outbursts against the West, particularly the United States, the Iranian president remained at the holy site with his entourage until around 2:00 am Monday (2300 GMT Sunday).
