A Baghdad court has issued arrest warrants for two correspondents with a Saudi newspaper over a false news report accusing Iranian pilgrims of sexually harassing Iraqi women.

A senior source in Iraq's judiciary said Wednesday that the warrants, based on the penal code's article 372 on religious hate crimes, were issued against the Asharq al-Awsat daily's two Baghdad-based Iraqi journalists.

The article, published on Sunday in the London-based pan-Arab newspaper, caused an uproar in Iraq, where the prime minister and several other prominent figures issued public condemnations.

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Shape Created with Sketch. World news in pictures Show all 50 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. World news in pictures 1/50 9 September 2019 A firefighter assesses the fire spreading across land on Long Gully Road in the town of Drake, Australia. A number of homes have been destroyed by bushfires in New South Wales and Queensland. EPA 2/50 8 September 2019 Damaged homes after hurricane Dorian devastated Elbow Key Island in Hope Town, Bahamas. The hurricane hit the island chain as a category 5 storm and battered them for two days before moving north. Getty 3/50 7 September 2019 An artist performs on Tverskaya street during celebrations marking the 872nd anniversary of the city of Moscow. AFP/Getty 4/50 6 September 2019 Children play football next to a defaced portrait of Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in Harare on the day he died, aged 95. The former leader was forced to resign in 2017, after a 37-year rule, whose early promise was eroded by economic turmoil, disputed elections and human rights violations, has died. AP 5/50 5 September 2019 Authorities work at the scene of a train crash in Yokohama, south of Tokyo. According to media reports, more than 30 people were injured after a train hit a track at a crossing. EPA 6/50 4 September 2019 A police office removes burning tires from the road, as protesters set up fires to block traffic along Airport Road in Abuja, Nigeria. Reuters 7/50 3 September 2019 A riot police officer throws a teargas canister as looters make off with goods from a store in Germiston, east of Johannesburg, South Africa. Police had earlier fired rubber bullets as they struggled to stop looters who targeted businesses as unrest broke out in several spots in and around the city. AP 8/50 2 September 2019 A boat off the island of Santa Cruz in California burns in the early hours of Monday morning. More than 30 people were on board the boat, which is thought to have been on a three-day diving trip. EPA 9/50 1 September 2019 Flowers are laid in a hole in a wall as people gather in the gym of a school, the scene of the hostage crisis, in memory of victims on the fifteenth anniversary of the tragedy in Beslan, North Ossetia region, Russia. More than 330 people, including 186 children, died as a result of the terrorist attack at the school. AP 10/50 31 August 2019 A man sits in front of riot officers during the rally 'Calling One Hundred Thousands Christians Praying for Hong Kong Sinners' in Hong Kong, China. EPA 11/50 30 August 2019 A migrant forces his way into the Spanish territory of Ceuta. Over 150 migrants made their way into Ceuta after storming a barbed-wire border fence with Morocco. AFP/Getty 12/50 A beagle jumps through hoops during a show at the Pet Expo Championship 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. 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EPA 30/50 11 August 2019 A pro-democracy protester is held by police outside Tsim Sha Tsui Police station during a demonstration against the controversial extradition bill in Hong Kong. AFP/Getty 31/50 10 August 2019 Muslim pilgrims make their way down on a rocky hill known as Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. AP 32/50 9 August 2019 Waves hit a sea wall in front of buildings in Taizhou, China's eastern Zhejiang province. China issued a red alert for incoming Super Typhoon Lekima which is expected to batter eastern Zhejiang province early on August 10 with high winds and torrential rainfall. AFP/Getty 33/50 8 August 2019 A herder struggles with his flock across a motorway at the city cattle market, ahead of the Eid al-Adha in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. 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Discovering the Pink Meanie in its early ephyra stage meant the team could study its growth rate which turned out to be very quick as it grew to the metaephyra stage in about a week and a half. The Mexican pink meanie (Drymonema larsoni) was only discovered in the year 2000. A Mediterranean relative, known as the Big Pink Jellyfish (Drymonema dalmatinum) has been known to science since the 1800s but when spotted in 2014 it had been almost 70 years since the last sighting. These jellies are incredibly rare and this new South African species is no exception. EPA 40/50 1 August 2019 Palestinian men breathe fire on the beach as entertainment for children during the summer vacation in Gaza City. AFP/Getty 41/50 31 July 2019 A woman rows a boat through the lotus plants on the waters of Dal Lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir. The lake is a popular tourist destination because of its floating gardens and lotus flowers. EPA 42/50 30 July 2019 An effigy of demon Ghantakarna is burnt to symbolize the destruction of evil and belief to drive evil spirits and ghost, during the Ghantakarna festival at the ancient city of Bhaktapur, Nepal. Reuters 43/50 29 July 2019 Hundreds of hot air balloons take part in the Great Line at the Mondial Air Ballons festival, in an attempt to break the 2017 record of 456 balloons aligning in an hour during the biggest meeting in the world, in Chambley, France. Reuters 44/50 28 July 2019 Anti-extradition bill protesters with umbrellas attend a rally against the police brutality in Hong Kong. EPA 45/50 27 July 2019 A general view of stalls closed following yesterday's volcanic eruption at the tourism area of Mount Tangkuban Parahu in the north of Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia. Reuters 46/50 26 July 2019 Protesters rally against a controversial extradition bill in the arrivals hall at the international airport in Hong Kong. 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EPA 2/50 8 September 2019 Damaged homes after hurricane Dorian devastated Elbow Key Island in Hope Town, Bahamas. The hurricane hit the island chain as a category 5 storm and battered them for two days before moving north. Getty 3/50 7 September 2019 An artist performs on Tverskaya street during celebrations marking the 872nd anniversary of the city of Moscow. AFP/Getty 4/50 6 September 2019 Children play football next to a defaced portrait of Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in Harare on the day he died, aged 95. The former leader was forced to resign in 2017, after a 37-year rule, whose early promise was eroded by economic turmoil, disputed elections and human rights violations, has died. AP 5/50 5 September 2019 Authorities work at the scene of a train crash in Yokohama, south of Tokyo. According to media reports, more than 30 people were injured after a train hit a track at a crossing. EPA 6/50 4 September 2019 A police office removes burning tires from the road, as protesters set up fires to block traffic along Airport Road in Abuja, Nigeria. Reuters 7/50 3 September 2019 A riot police officer throws a teargas canister as looters make off with goods from a store in Germiston, east of Johannesburg, South Africa. Police had earlier fired rubber bullets as they struggled to stop looters who targeted businesses as unrest broke out in several spots in and around the city. AP 8/50 2 September 2019 A boat off the island of Santa Cruz in California burns in the early hours of Monday morning. More than 30 people were on board the boat, which is thought to have been on a three-day diving trip. EPA 9/50 1 September 2019 Flowers are laid in a hole in a wall as people gather in the gym of a school, the scene of the hostage crisis, in memory of victims on the fifteenth anniversary of the tragedy in Beslan, North Ossetia region, Russia. More than 330 people, including 186 children, died as a result of the terrorist attack at the school. AP 10/50 31 August 2019 A man sits in front of riot officers during the rally 'Calling One Hundred Thousands Christians Praying for Hong Kong Sinners' in Hong Kong, China. EPA 11/50 30 August 2019 A migrant forces his way into the Spanish territory of Ceuta. Over 150 migrants made their way into Ceuta after storming a barbed-wire border fence with Morocco. AFP/Getty 12/50 A beagle jumps through hoops during a show at the Pet Expo Championship 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. Although the four-day expo is primarily dog oriented it features a wide array of stalls catering to pet owners' needs as well as showcasing a variety of animals including reptiles, birds, ferrets, and rabbits. EPA 13/50 28 August 2019 Baby elephants rub their trunks against a tree at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. Countries that are part of an international agreement on trade in endangered species agreed on Tuesday to limit the sale of wild elephants, delighting conservationists but dismaying some of the African countries involved. AP 14/50 27 August 2019 Burning rubbles in the market of Bouake, central Ivory Coast, after a fire broke overnight. AFP/Getty 15/50 26 August 2019 French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, second from left, sits between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, left, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel as they take part in a meeting at the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France. The Canadian Press via AP 16/50 25 August 2019 A Brazillian Air Force jet drops water to fight a fire in the Amazon rainforest in the state of Rondonia, Brazil. EPA 17/50 24 August 2019 A police officer prepares to strike a protester as clashes erupt during a pro-democracy march in Hong Kong's Kowloon Bay. AFP/Getty 18/50 23 August 2019 Oxfam activists in costumes depicting leaders of the G7 nations protest in Biarritz, France on the day before the summit is due to be held there. AFP/Getty 19/50 22 August 2019 A vendor sits as she sells models of the Hindu deity Krishna on display at a roadside ahead of the 'Janmashtami' festival in Chennai. 20/50 21 August 2019 A girl reacts next to Pope Francis as he leads the weekly general audience in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. Reuters 21/50 20 August 2019 A masked dancer takes part in the Nil Barahi mask dance festival, an annual event during which dancers perform while posing as various deities that people worship to seek blessings, in Bode, Nepal. Reuters 22/50 19 August 2019 Protesters take to the street to face off with Indonesian police in Manokwari, Papua. The riots broke out, with a local parliament building being torched, as thousands protested allegations that police tear-gassed and arrested students who supported the restive region's independence. AFP/Getty 23/50 18 August 2019 People survey the destruction after an overnight suicide bomb explosion that targeted a wedding reception in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 63 people, mostly wedding guests from the Shi'ite Muslim community, were killed and more than 180 injured when a suicide bomber attacked a wedding hall. EPA 24/50 17 August 2019 A man retrieves his prize after climbing up a greased pole during a competition held as part of Independence Day celebrations at Ancol Beach in Jakarta. Indonesia is celebrating its 74th anniversary of independence from the Dutch colonial rule. AP 25/50 16 August 2019 Swiss pianist and composer Alain Roche plays piano suspended in the air at dawn during the 20th "Jeux du Castrum", a multidisciplinary festival in Switzerland. AFP/Getty 26/50 15 August 2019 Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako bow during a memorial service ceremony marking the 74th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War Two, in Tokyo, Japan. Reuters 27/50 14 August 2019 A woman walks with a Kashmir's flag to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir, during a ceremony to celebrate Pakistan's 72nd Independence Day at the Mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi, Pakistan. Reuters 28/50 13 August 2019 The extraordinary moment a volcano erupted, shooting luminous hot lava from the surface, as a lightning bolt striked the centre of the mountain. Photographer Martin Reitze, 55, captured rare images of volcanic ash escaping from the Ebeko volcano in Russia whilst the lightning froze the ash cloud in time. Martin, from Munich, was standing around a kilometre away from the northern crater of the volcano when it erupted. The volcano expert said: "The strong lightning which shows in the image is a very rare exception, as it was much stronger than usual." Martin Reitze/SWNS 29/50 12 August 2019 People swim in a public bath pool in Zalakaros, Hungary. Some regions of the country have been issued the highest grade of warning by the National Meteorological Service as the temperatures may reach 33-38 centigrade. EPA 30/50 11 August 2019 A pro-democracy protester is held by police outside Tsim Sha Tsui Police station during a demonstration against the controversial extradition bill in Hong Kong. AFP/Getty 31/50 10 August 2019 Muslim pilgrims make their way down on a rocky hill known as Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. AP 32/50 9 August 2019 Waves hit a sea wall in front of buildings in Taizhou, China's eastern Zhejiang province. China issued a red alert for incoming Super Typhoon Lekima which is expected to batter eastern Zhejiang province early on August 10 with high winds and torrential rainfall. AFP/Getty 33/50 8 August 2019 A herder struggles with his flock across a motorway at the city cattle market, ahead of the Eid al-Adha in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Eid al-Adha is the holiest of the two Muslims holidays celebrated each year, it marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) to visit Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. Muslims slaughter a sacrificial animal and split the meat into three parts, one for the family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy. EPA 34/50 7 August 2019 Kazakh servicemen perform during a ceremony opening the International Army Games at the 40th military base Otar in Zhambyl Region, Kazakhstan. Reuters 35/50 6 August 2019 Paleontologist Naturalis Anne Schulp takes part in the construction of the skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus Rex called Trix in Naturalis in Leiden, The Netherlands. After a month-long tour of Europe, Trix is home in time for the opening of the new museum. AFP/Getty 36/50 5 August 2019 Flowers paying tribute to the eight-year-old boy who died after he was pushed under a train at Frankfurt am Main's station. The horrific crime happened last week and has led politicians to call for heightened security. AFP/Getty 37/50 4 August 2019 Mourners take part in a vigil near the border fence between Mexico and the US after a mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso killed 20 people. The suspected gunman behind shooting is believed to be a 21-year-old white man called Patrick Crusius. Reuters 38/50 3 August 2019 Pramac Racing's rider Jack Miller in action during a practice session at the Motorcycling Grand Prix of the Czech Republic. The race will take place on 4 August. EPA 39/50 2 August 2019 An extremely rare Pink Meanie jellyfish on display at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. The Pink Meanie was discovered during a nightlight jellyfish dive by the collections team in the waters around Robben Island and in Cape Town Harbour. Pink Meanies are jellyvorous, meaning they feed on other jelly species by reeling them in with their long tentacles. Discovering the Pink Meanie in its early ephyra stage meant the team could study its growth rate which turned out to be very quick as it grew to the metaephyra stage in about a week and a half. The Mexican pink meanie (Drymonema larsoni) was only discovered in the year 2000. A Mediterranean relative, known as the Big Pink Jellyfish (Drymonema dalmatinum) has been known to science since the 1800s but when spotted in 2014 it had been almost 70 years since the last sighting. These jellies are incredibly rare and this new South African species is no exception. EPA 40/50 1 August 2019 Palestinian men breathe fire on the beach as entertainment for children during the summer vacation in Gaza City. AFP/Getty 41/50 31 July 2019 A woman rows a boat through the lotus plants on the waters of Dal Lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir. The lake is a popular tourist destination because of its floating gardens and lotus flowers. EPA 42/50 30 July 2019 An effigy of demon Ghantakarna is burnt to symbolize the destruction of evil and belief to drive evil spirits and ghost, during the Ghantakarna festival at the ancient city of Bhaktapur, Nepal. Reuters 43/50 29 July 2019 Hundreds of hot air balloons take part in the Great Line at the Mondial Air Ballons festival, in an attempt to break the 2017 record of 456 balloons aligning in an hour during the biggest meeting in the world, in Chambley, France. Reuters 44/50 28 July 2019 Anti-extradition bill protesters with umbrellas attend a rally against the police brutality in Hong Kong. EPA 45/50 27 July 2019 A general view of stalls closed following yesterday's volcanic eruption at the tourism area of Mount Tangkuban Parahu in the north of Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia. Reuters 46/50 26 July 2019 Protesters rally against a controversial extradition bill in the arrivals hall at the international airport in Hong Kong. AFP/Getty 47/50 25 July 2019 The pack rides in a valley during the eighteenth stage of the 106th edition of the Tour de France cycling race between Embrun and Valloire. AFP/Getty 48/50 24 July 2019 Former special counsel Robert Mueller is sworn in to testify before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the investigation into Russian Interference of the 2016 Presidential Election. Reuters 49/50 23 July 2019 People cool down at the fountains of Trocadero during a heatwave in Paris. EPA 50/50 22 July 2019 Activists burn an effigy of President Rodrigo Duterte, depicted as a sea monster, during a protest near congress. This is to coincide with his state of the nation address in Manila. AFP/Getty

One of the two correspondents, Hamza Mustafa, denied any responsibility for the article and announced he was resigning in protest.

Another journalist working for the newspaper in Baghdad, Maad Fayyad, in a statement obtained by AFP, said he had nothing to do with the controversial article.

Ziad Ajili, from the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, issued a statement condemning the warrants as an "incitement to murder".

The pair's whereabouts were unclear Wednesday.

The article was published as Arbaeen, a Shia Muslim pilgrimage that commemorates the 680 AD death of Imam Hussein and is one of the world's largest religious events, was peaking in the Iraqi shrine city of Karbala.

It quoted a purported World Health Organization spokesman as saying that after last year's pilgrimage more than 169 Iraqi women became pregnant out of wedlock.

The UN health agency vehemently denied making any such assertion.

AFP</s>“He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.” - Napoleon Bonaparte

I don’t think this quote has ever rung more pertinently true. I also think that Saudi Arabia’s recent faux-pas towards Iraq and Shia Islam most brilliantly exemplified the abominable sectarian nature of the kingdom’s dogmatic aberration: Wahhabism.

Earlier this week, on the day which marks the culmination of the pilgrimage of Arbaeen in Iraq, Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq-al-Awsat published a slanderous report in which it claimed that the women of Karbala engaged in less than savoury relations during the pilgrimage. Arbaeen is the 40-day mourning period following Ashura, the religious ritual for the commemoration of the Prophet Mohammad’s grandson’s death in 680 AD.

The report has since been removed by Asharq-al-Awsat and its editor in chief was made to resign.

The article quoted a fabricated World Health Organisation spokesperson as saying that after last year's pilgrimage more than 169 Iraqi women became pregnant out of wedlock.

The UN's health agency almost immediately refuted the allegation noting: "claim that this information was released by a WHO headquarters communications officer is completely erroneous".

In its statement, the WHO said Saudi media-spread citations on illegitimate children being conceived and born during Arbaeen religious ceremonies in eastern Iraq are false. The international body’s statement said that all quotes published on an online Saudi portal are untrue and cannot be referenced to the organization.

The WHO criticized the exploitation of its name and authenticity by the website “ASHRAQ Al-AWSAT” or otherwise known by “Free Voices.” The media outlet had misleadingly cited one of the organization’s spokespersons based in Geneva.

The WHO condemned the website, and renounced the report saying that it was fabricated and did not go with the moral set and values upheld by the body.

WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr. Ala Alwan, in a letter sent to Asharq Al-Awsat, confirmed that the organization had not made any statements on the subject matter, and that he strongly condemns the false citation and referencing the incorrect information to the WHO in media reports.

Dr. Alwan added that the report made does not relate or fall in line with the principals and values held and promoted by the health body.

More so, the organization warned the abuse of its title in such matters by the media, especially first fact checking the information.

Saudi Arabia now finds itself in the middle of a scandal which is unlikely to die down easily – not when its intentions were so clearly aimed at discrediting both Iraq and Shia Islam.

Only this time truth has caught up with the Wahhabi kingdom. This time Riyadh’s manipulation was far too grave for anyone to entertain its lunacy.

Lunacy is in fact what animates the Saudi kingdom – that and a hate so grand that it would stoop to slander to prevent the world from acknowledging the inspiring display of devotion and loyalty Muslims and non-Muslims have demonstrated by raising Imam Hussain ibn Ali’s banner in Karbala.

Almost 30 million pilgrims – of all walks of life, ethnicities and faiths were gathered in Karbala this November. In peace, in devotion, in remembrance almost 30 million souls pledged their loyalty to the Third Imam, and where he fell martyred they vowed to raise a movement to defy Tyranny.

Maybe such declaration was too much for the kingdom to bear. Maybe the stand of Imam Hussain stood too much of a reminder that tyrants do in fact fall a great fall when Truth is spoken by the oppressed.

What an irony indeed it is to see tyrants reveal themselves by the injustice of their deeds!

But beyond the lies and fabrications we ought to recognise the seed of sectarian hate and fanaticism. Beyond this rather pathetic attempt to brush Iraqi women as women of little virtue, when Iraq proved most generous and kind to pilgrims at a time when the nation has suffered the greatest of oppression … Daesh we will do well to remember still roams in Iraq: pillaging and killing.

Still Iraq proved generous, Iraq also proved most graceful and kind to its guests. The same cannot be said of Saudi Arabia when too often its own pilgrims have suffered tremendous abuses and restrictions on their personal freedom.

A study sponsored by the Shafaqna Institute for Middle Eastern Studies this summer established how violently oppressive and repressive the kingdom has acted to its own religious minorities, carrying such sectarianism to the heart of the Hajj pilgrimage by blocking access to al-Baqee cemetery in Medina and other holy sites to non-Wahhabi pilgrims.

Wahhabism today is working to erode at the fabric of Islam – just as it has eroded and claimed away Islam’s religious history and Islam’s religious heritage, and under a mountain of lies bury the Truth.

It needs to be said that if the Islamic world suffers from a divide it is in between Muslims and Wahhabis, not Shiites and Sunnis. Shia and Sunni Islam have no theological quarrels.

Just as Wahhabi hordes befell the holy of Karbala in the 18th century so that Imam Hussain’s shrine would be torn down and all its followers massacred, Wahhabism’s foot-soldiers aim to discredit Shia Islam, by challenging its people’s morality.

We only have to look upon the destruction Wahhabism has claimed over the centuries to realise that this nefarious ideology is at war with all religions … maybe in its folly God himself.

It is absolutism Wahhabism seeks to assert, it is exclusionism and fanaticism it wants to institutionalise so that all freedoms could be disappeared to their black flag.

In an interview I conducted for The Duran the Baqee Organization noted the following: “Failure to protect them [holy sites] from destruction is the biggest tragedy for the Islamic architectural heritage. The Saudi royal family claims to be guardians of the holy places of Islam, and profit hugely from the centuries by visiting believers to Mecca and Medina for pilgrimage. And yet, they are party to this barbaric desecration of the holiest sites in the Islamic world.”

And

“Today, the religious zealots in Saudi Arabia are not alone. Commercial developers such as Bin Laden Group have joined hands with them and are making hundreds of millions in profits as they build ugly, but lucrative high-rises that are shadowing the Grand Mosque known as the Ka’aba. Today Saudi petrodollars have the ability to silence even its most vocal critics, but when all is said and done, history will render a harsh judgment on those who try to wipe out its footprints and steal the heritage of all humanity.”

I will add this: today Wahhabism feels so secure in its alliances, wealth and political power that it is moving its war to the spiritual realm. I will offer this warning: “Beware of the supplication of the oppressed, for there is no barrier between it and Allah”, Prophet Muhammad – Sahih al-Bukharu 4090. Readers will note that I have used a source not even Wahhabis will contest.

One last point I would like to make before I take my leave: Saudi Arabia has no lesson in morality to offer the Iraqi people – not when it has itself proven such a shameful model of depravity. I recall how only recently one of Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabi imam educated the male population in a lesson of “how best to beat your wife”. I also recall that child marriage remains rampant in the kingdom, and how instrumental the kingdom has been in exploiting and trafficking children …

Mirror, mirror on the wall who is the most abominable of all …</s>Correspondents for Asharq Al Awsat under fire for report accusing Iranian pilgrims of sexual harassment.

Baghdad // A Baghdad court has issued arrest warrants for two correspondents with a Saudi newspaper over a false news report accusing Iranian pilgrims of sexually harassing Iraqi women.

A senior source in Iraq’s judiciary said the warrants, based on the penal code’s article 372 on religious hate crimes, were issued against the Asharq Al Awsat daily’s two Baghdad-based Iraqi journalists.

The article, published on Sunday in the London-based pan-Arab newspaper, caused an uproar in Iraq, where the prime minister and several other prominent figures issued public condemnations.

One of the two correspondents, Hamza Mustafa, denied any responsibility for the article and said he was resigning in protest.

Another journalist working for the newspaper in Baghdad, Maad Fayyad, said he had nothing to do with the controversial article.

The pair’s whereabouts on Wednesday were unclear.

Ziad Ajili, from the Baghdad-based Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, condemned the warrants as an “incitement to murder”.

The article was published as Arbaeen, a Shiite pilgrimage that commemorates the 680 AD death of Imam Hussein and is one of the world’s largest religious events, was peaking in the Iraqi shrine city of Karbala.

It quoted a purported World Health Organisation spokesman as saying that after last year’s pilgrimage more than 169 Iraqi women became pregnant out of wedlock.

The UN health agency has denied making any such assertion.

* Agence France-Presse
An Iraqi court has issued arrest warrants for two correspondents with a London-based pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat over a false news report accusing Iranian pilgrims of sexually harassing Iraqi women.