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AskariyaShrine_060222.ID = "AskariyaShrine_060222";
AskariyaShrine_060222.ID_WB = 11500112;
AskariyaShrine_060222.sPubDate = "2/22/2006 6:24:10 PM GMT";
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AskariyaShrine_060222.appHeader = "fact file|Askariya shrine";
AskariyaShrine_060222.mainArt = "<img src=\"http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060222/060222_shrine_factbox.h2.jpg\" border=\"#000000\" byline=\"Khalid Mohammed\" credit=\"AP file\" />";
AskariyaShrine_060222.appFooter = "Source: The Associated Press";
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AskariyaShrine_060222[i-1].body = "The Askariya shrine is among Iraq's most sacred sites for Shiite Muslims, drawing pilgrims from around the Islamic world. ";

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AskariyaShrine_060222[i-1].body = "It contains the tombs of the 10th and 11th imams, Ali al-Hadi who died in 868 A.D., and his son, Hassan al-Askari, who died in 874 A.D. ";

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AskariyaShrine_060222[i-1].body = "The landmark golden dome was completed in 1905 under Muzaffar al-Din Shah. ";

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AskariyaShrine_060222[i-1].body = "The shrine is near the place where the last of the 12 Shiite imams, Mohammed al-Mahdi, disappeared. Al-Mahdi, known as the \"hidden imam,\" was the son and grandson of the two imams buried in the Askariya shrine. ";

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AskariyaShrine_060222[i-1].body = "The shrine is in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, one of the four Shiite holy cities in Iraq, which has majestic ruins stretching along the eastern bank of the Tigris river. ";

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AskariyaShrine_060222[i-1].body = "It was built by Caliph al-Mutasim in 836 AD to replace Baghdad as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, and abandoned by Caliph Al-Mutamid in 892 AD. ";

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AskariyaShrine_060222[i-1].body = "Samarra is also the site of the 9th century Great Mosque with a 170 foot spiral minaret that is one of the most recognized landmarks in Iraq. The town also holds remains of the residence built by Caliph Al-Mutasim in 835 AD. ";

	// END editorial data