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| Iraq |
| Shiite pilgrims flock to Baghdad shrine despite bombings |
| 2012-06-15 |
| [Al Ahram] Thousands of Shiite pilgrims headed on foot to a north Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... shrine on Thursday to commemorate the death of a revered Shiite imam, undaunted by waves of attacks that killed 72 people a day earlier. Routes leading to Kadhimiyah neighbourhood, site of the shrine of Imam Musa Kadhim, the seventh of 12 Shiite imams who died in 799, were closed to all traffic except emergency vehicles, AFP journalists said. Pilgrims wound under a blistering sun through the streets in their thousands, repeating religious chants, some beating their chests in a sign of mourning for the imam. Tents along the way provided the pilgrims with free food and water. In the Utayfiyah area of north Storied Baghdad, long lines of pilgrims, many wearing green headbands and some carrying green flags, the colour of Islam, were seen marching toward the shrine. Vast crowds of chanting pilgrims were also seen walking through Karrada in central Storied Baghdad, where a bomb on Wednesday blasted the pilgrims' food tents, killing 16 people, damaging cars and scattering human remains across the street. Another car boom went kaboom!on the outskirts of Kadhimiyah on Wednesday, killing seven people, leaving a hole two metres (yards) deep in a street, damaging cars and destroying a number of makeshift houses. "This is the sixth year I have come ... I left home around 2:00 am and I feel so good now," said Hussein Murawih, 17, who walked from Suwayrah, some 60 kilometres (40 miles) southeast of Storied Baghdad. "We just came to tell the bully boyz that we are against you. We are not afraid of the kabooms or of terrorism. Visiting Imam Kadhim is a great thing because we want to express condolences to the imam." |
| Posted by:Fred |