VOICED Iranians cross illegally into Iraq for pilgrimage despite dangers

Описание: (3 Aug 2003) VOICED BY LOUISE BATES

Mehran, Iran (near Iran-Iraq border) - 19 July 2003
00:00 Wide shot of people waiting to cross border into Iraq
00:06 Mid shot of luggage
Iran-Iraq border - 22 July 2003
00:08 Pan of people and traffic at border
Karbala, Iraq - 19 July 2003
00:15 Mosque
00:18 Various of people praying
00:27 SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Mr Azizi, Iranian who has come on pilgrimage to Karbala
Road to Karbala, Iraq - 19 July 2003
00:36 Various tracking shots of desert
Karbala, Iraq - 19 July 2003
00:44 U-S helicopters patrolling sky over Karbala
Iraqi side of Iran-Iraq border - 22 July 2003
00:48 Various of bodies of people who were killed by a landmine trying to cross the border
Ilam, Iran - 24 July 2003
00:55 Leg of wounded man who is lying in hospital bed
00:58 SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Hussein, man wounded trying to cross into Iraq
Karbala, Iraq - 19 July 2003
01:08 People praying inside Imam Hussein shrine
01:11 Women praying
01:15 Men praying
01:19 Men worshiping at wall
Mehran, Iran (near Iran-Iraq border) - 19 July 2003
01:24 People climbing on truck
01:35 VISION ENDS
STORYLINE:
The bodies of three Iranians, who died en route to holy Shiite shrines in Iraq, have been found in Mehran near the Iraqi border, according to local police.
Officials say they as many as 100 Iranians may have died trying to make the perilous pilgrimage into Iraq since the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime.
02
Iranian pilgrims waiting to cross the border into Iraq.
06
The Iranian government has banned travel to the country.
But devout Shiites are still crossing in their thousands to reach Iraq's holy sites.
15
The central cities of Najaf and Karbala, house the holiest shrines for Shiites after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.
23
The travel ban has created a lucrative trade for people smugglers.
27 FX (Farsi) Mr Azizi, Iranian who has come on pilgrimage to Karbala
29
We paid the human traffickers, says this pilgrim. They bribed the frontier officials and they let us cross the border.
36
But there's a growing cost in human lives.
Police recently found the bodies of three men who they say had died of heat stroke and dehydration trying to make the journey.
44
There's also the risk of being shot by US troops.
49
Others have been killed after stepping on landmines, left over from the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.
58 FX (Farsi) Hussein, man wounded trying to cross into Iraq
100
This man says that on the way to Karbala one of his friends went over a mine in the road and he was injured.
108
Baghdad has renewed its appeal to Iranians not to travel illegally to Iraq.
112
And Iran has pledged to crack down on the smugglers.
The Hajj and Pilgrimage Organisation, says it is to send a delegation to Iraq to discuss the possibility of resuming visits to the holy sites.
124
In the meantime thousands of pilgrims a day are being trafficked across Iraq's borders while frontier guards look the other way.

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