AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The Supreme Committee responsible for planning and organizing the funeral ceremony of the martyred Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei in Iraq announced on Thursday that based on preliminary estimates, more than 10 million people participated in the funeral procession of the martyred religious authority in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.
Ehsan Yassin al-Awadi, the head of the Supreme Committee and Director of the Office of the Prime Minister of Iraq, stated in a statement, "The Islamic world and world public opinion, with grief and emotion, followed the funeral ceremony of the martyred leader of the Islamic Revolution in the two holy cities of Najaf and Karbala."
Referring to the preparation process for this ceremony, he added that the Supreme Committee, from the first hours after the mission was assigned, held intensive meetings with officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran, local governments, the holy shrines of Imam Ali (a.s.), Imam Hussain (a.s.), and Abbas (a.s.), the Joint Operations Command, security institutions, service institutions, and other relevant bodies, and carried out comprehensive planning for the ceremony.
Al-Awadi stated that this plan included the formation of specialized committees, the development of various scenarios for crowd management, the organization of mourning processions and participants, securing the routes, providing necessary services, and declaring a state of full readiness for all executive and security bodies. Hussaini processions and thousands of volunteers also participated in the implementation of this plan.
The head of the Supreme Committee for the Funeral of the Martyred Leader of the Revolution in Iraq emphasized that despite the million-strong presence of people in Najaf and Karbala, the planned schemes were successfully implemented, and the ceremony concluded with complete order and smoothness, without recording any security incidents or significant events; a success that, according to him, was the result of extensive coordination among various institutions, public cooperation, and the efforts of executive and security forces.
He further expressed gratitude to all official institutions, holy shrines, security and military forces, especially the Popular Mobilization Forces (Hashd al-Shaabi), medical and service personnel, Hussaini processions, thousands of volunteers, and the general public of Iraq for their participation in organizing this ceremony.
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