HOLY CITY OF KARBALA, Iraq: Holy mausoleums of Al-Imam Al-Hussein (AS) and Al-Abbas bin Ali (AS) in the central Iraqi holy city of Karbala are threatened by a rise in the water table.

The head of the province's agriculture department Amal Ad-Deen al-Her said the mausoleums are in danger of water damage if corrective action is not taken as quickly as possible.

According to al-Her the shrines lie some 2.5 metres (more than eight feet) below the level of the surrounding streets and successive bombings since the 1991 Gulf war have damaged sewers and water mains, further compounding the problem.

Mahdi Lateef, the head of water resources in Karbala, said a lack of funds had so far prevented work being carried out to protect the shrines.

"A project was offered to the ministry of water resources in 2003 to surround the shrines with a buried wall going down eight metres (more than 26 feet) and prevent ground water seepage," Lateef said. "The project was not implemented because there was a lack of money."