IRAQ: An optimistic pilgrim

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Hussein Ali, 40, came to the shrine of Imam Musa Kadhim in west Baghdad for the religious festival Ashura, during which Shiite Muslims mourn the death of Imam Hussein, the prophet Muhammad’s grandson, and his 71 followers at the hands of the Caliph Yazid in 680 AD.

For Ali, this holiday was more hopeful than last year’s, when violence roiled Baghdad. He came to worship at the Kadhimiya shrine unafraid of attacks from either Sunni or Shiite militants. ‘People used to be afraid to come to Kadhimiya, but now even the Sunnis start to come here for marketing,’ Ali said. Before, he said, people had worried about the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia, but their leader, cleric Muqtada Sadr, called a six-month cease-fire at the end of August.

‘Their influence has shrunk. We feel relief because they were taking people for silly reasons and beating them because someone accused a man of flattering a girl,’ Ali said.

Delighted to be celebrating a holiday in peace in Baghdad, he said, ‘The situation is getting better day after day.’

— Usama Redha in Baghdad