Khalid Mohammed / AP
Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr chant anti-U.S. slogans and wave Iraqi flags as they celebrate the U.S. withdrawal in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, on Feb. 9, 2012.
Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gathered Thursday to publicly celebrate the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, The Associated Press reports.
The U.S. completed its military withdrawal in December 2011, but Sadrist lawmaker Jawad al-Shuhaili said the movement postponed celebrating it until the end of the Arbaeen, a 40-day period of mourning following the anniversary of the death of Imam Hussein, a revered Shiite figure.
Related content:
Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP - Getty Images
Security forces inspect the site of a blast after a bomb ripped through a group of workers in Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, on Jan. 24, 2012. A series of car bombs exploded in Shiite areas of Baghdad.
msnbc.com news services report from BAGHDAD:
Tuesday's first attack targeted an early morning gathering of day laborers in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood. Police said eight were killed and another 21 wounded. Minutes later, an explosives-packed car blew up near a pastry shop in the same district, killing three people and wounding 26, police said.
"We were all standing waiting to earn our living and all of a sudden it was like a black storm and I felt myself thrown on the ground," said Ahmed Ali, a 40-year-old laborer whose face and hair were burned by the explosion. Read the full story.
The AP reports from BAGHDAD — Militiamen and followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr led a massive rally on Thursday, marching in Baghdad in a show of force as Iraqi leaders weigh whether to keep U.S. troops in the country beyond the end of the year.
Ahmad al-Rubaye / AFP - Getty Images
Members of the Iraqi Sadr Movement's Mahdi Army march in Baghdad's predominantly Shiite suburb of Sadr City on May 26, during a parade demanding the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.
At least tens of thousands waved Iraqi flags and shouted "No, no, America!" as the tight columns of the unarmed but ominous-looking members of the Mahdi Army, as al-Sadr's militia is known, marched through one of
Hadi Mizban / AP
Supporters of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr march while holding a sign that reads, "No, no to Israel," in Arabic, in the Sadr City district of Baghdad, Iraq on May 26. Tens of thousands of followers of the Shiite anti-American cleric are rallying in Baghdad, demanding the U.S. military leave Iraq at the end of the year.
E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS