During his visit to Najaf governorate Jan. 6, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi issued directions for the completion of the land pilgrim route linking Iraq from Najaf to the holy lands in Saudi Arabia. Work had started in 2013 for the establishment of this route but was halted due to the financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic.

The project coincides with the official opening of Iraq’s Arar border crossing with Saudi Arabia amid government efforts to boost relations between Baghdad and Riyadh, which witnessed successive crises, as diplomatic relations resumed in 2015 following 25 years of rupture due to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

The new pilgrim route on the Iraqi side runs parallel to the Zubaydah trail, located on the other side of the Iraqi-Saudi border, which pilgrims from Iraq and neighboring countries used to take to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It was built during the Abbasid rule in 786 and was named after Zubaydah, the wife of Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid. This trail included stations, rest stops, ponds and canals. 

The project has stalled in the past because of previously fractious relations between Baghdad and Riyadh. For example, in 2009, the Saudi Al Eqtisadiah newspaper accused the former Iraqi government of employing the pilgrimage for political purposes.