Baghdad, Iraq – Hundreds of thousands of Shiites marched to a gold-domed mosque in harsh heat and sun Thursday in a pilgrimage of devotion to an eighth-century saint that also starkly demonstrated their political power.
Only scattered strikes by Sunni insurgents marred the event, held amid tight security to avoid the attacks that have occurred during past gatherings.
“Long live Muqtada!” some pilgrims shouted as they paraded toward the Imam al-Kadhim shrine, referring to radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, whose Mahdi army is accused of death squad attacks. “May God kill his enemies!”
A few shook their fists at U.S. soldiers standing along the procession route, but the march was mostly peaceful.
Many said they intended their presence to show they could not be intimidated by Sunni insurgents who have devastated past gatherings, and who regularly target Shiites at markets and on buses.
“I have come here to get the blessing of the martyr imam and to challenge the terrorism of the Wahhabists,” said Hussein Mizaal, a 21-year-old college student from southeastern Baghdad. He was referring to the austere Wahhabi strain of Sunni Islam, practiced mostly in Saudi Arabia but also identified with Sunni insurgents.
“We are not afraid of anyone except God,” Mizaal said.
The march comes as Iraq’s government remains sharply divided, unable to meet key U.S.-sought benchmarks such as a new oil law. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite who heads the unity government but is accused of bias by Sunnis, was in Iran to talk about security and electricity deals.
Separately, the U.S. military announced the deaths of two Marines in Anbar province west of Baghdad – one in fighting and the other in a noncombat incident. Both died Tuesday.
In addition, two British soldiers were killed early Thursday by a roadside bombing in southern Iraq, north of the Rumaylah oil fields, the Ministry of Defense said.
At the meetings in Tehran, Iranian officials told al-Maliki they were doing all they could to help stabilize his nation, but insisted that only a U.S. pullout would bring true peace.
Al-Maliki told reporters later that he did not discuss the issue of U.S. forces with the Iranians.
A citywide driving ban also was in effect until early Saturday to prevent suicide car bombings. It also improved Baghdad air quality.
