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2019-10-20 Iraq
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Iraqi pilgrims protest corruption during Arbaeen march
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[AlAhram] Thousands of Iraqis chanted anti-corruption slogans during the Shiite Arbaeen pilgrimage to the holy city of Karbala Saturday, responding to firebrand
...firebrands are noted more for audio volume and the quantity of spittle generated than for any actual logic in their arguments...
holy man  Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
... the Iranian catspaw holy man who was 22 years old in 2003 and was nearing 40 in 2010. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah...
's call to keep up anti-government protests.
Continued from Page 2
Amid the throngs of black-clad pilgrims mourning the seventh-century death of Imam Hussein, Sadr supporters dressed in white demanded "No, to corruption!" and "Yes, to reform!".
Waving Iraqi flags, they chanted "Baghdad free, corrupt ones out!"
Sadr, whose list emerged as the largest bloc in parliamentary elections last year, helped Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi to form his government. But on Tuesday he called on Twitter for his supporters to march in shrouds.
Iraq -- the second-largest OPEC oil producer -- is "a rich country where the people are poor," Khedheir Naim told AFP. The grey-bearded man came from the southern oil city of Basra to join the world's largest Shiite pilgrimage, which culminated Saturday.
Denouncing corruption has been a primary theme of the protest movement shaking Iraq, alongside demands for jobs and functional services. In a single week of protests at the start of the month, 110 people were killed and 6,000 injured, according to official figures.
Calls have been made for fresh marches on October 25, to mark the anniversary of the government that is the focus of public anger.
The annual Arbaeen pilgrimage sees millions of worshippers, mostly Iraqis and Iranians, converge by foot on Karbala, 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Baghdad.
Arbaeen marks the end of the 40-day mourning period for the killing of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, by the forces of the caliph Yazid in 680 AD. Placards with anti-United States and anti-Israel messages are often seen in the crowd, though anti-corruption slogans are rare.
Despite warnings from Iranian authorities for pilgrims to delay travelling, 3.5 million people -- mostly Iranians -- officially entered Iraq by land borders by Friday.
Shiite Moslems from the Gulf also attended, like Saudi Talib al-Ghadir.
"It's necessary to make the pilgrimage regardless of the situation in the country," he told AFP. "We haven't seen anything out of the ordinary, even if people from the Gulf came at the last minute because of the protests."
Last year, more than 14 million worshippers visited the gold domed mausoleum where Imam Hussein is buried.
The commemoration marks the 40th day following the death of a Shiite saint in the 7th century and included more than 2 million Iranians and other Shiites from abroad. Militias patrolled roads leading into the city and escorted Iranian pilgrims from the border, hiking up security for processions that have previously been targeted by Sunni militant groups with bloody bombings.
This year’s Arbaeen ceremonies take place amid widespread anger in Iraq’s Shiite south over the government’s heavy crackdown on protests that erupted earlier this month against unemployment, corruption and government mismanagement. The demonstrations raged across Iraq for seven days and most prominent among the protesters were young Shiites, unleashing their frustration with the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.
Pilgrims streamed toward Karbala on foot from the cities of Najaf, 70 kilometers (45 miles) away, Baghdad, 90 kilometers (55 miles) to the north, and other places farther afield, resting along the way in tents lined with foam mattresses and fleece blankets.
The pilgrimage, known in Arabic as the Ziara, marks the anniversary of the 40th day of mourning following the 7th century death of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Hussein at the hands of the Muslim Umayyad forces in the Battle of Karbala, during the tumultuous first century of Islam’s history.
Hussein was seen by his followers as the rightful heir of the prophet’s legacy. When he refused to pledge allegiance to the Umayyad caliphate, he was killed in the battle, cementing the schism between Sunni and Shiite Islam. Hussein’s half-brother Abbas was also killed in the battle.
Iran’s deputy interior ministry, Hossein Zolfaghari said that more than 3.4 million Iranians traveled to Iraq and 2 million of them have returned. 
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Posted by trailing wife 2019-10-20 02:49||
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File under: Govt of Iran Proxies
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Posted by SteveS 2019-10-20 13:08||
2019-10-20 13:08||
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