Women banned from Iraqi shrine on the occasion of Ashura

Iraqi authorities on Tuesday enforced a two-day ban on women visiting a shrine in Baghdad.The ban was imposed as part of a security clampdown around Kadhimiyah.The ban applies on Tuesday and Wednesday for the culmination of the Ashura ceremonies commemorating the martyrdom in 680 AD of the Imam Hussein, grandson of the prophet Mohammed. It covers the area in a busy market district surrounding the tomb of Musa al-Khadim, the seventh Shiite imam shrine, one of the sites most revered by Shiites.