Iraqi FM Fuad Hussein on Sunday, held a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian and exchanged Ramadan greetings, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Both sides exchanged views on bilateral relations between Tehran and Baghdad, regional developments, maintaining security and stability and fighting terrorism.

The Iraqi Foreign Minister welcomed efforts to normalize of relations between Tehran and Riyadh and said that Iraqi President Dr. Latif Rashid will soon pay an official visit to Tehran.

Last month, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi sent an official invitation to the Iraq’s President through Iranian Ambassador to Iraq Mohammad al-Sadeq to visit Tehran.

In 2014, the Islamic State (ISIS) group swept across swathes of Iraq, carrying out horrific violence against the Kurdish-speaking community whose non-Muslim faith the extremists considered heretical.

ISIS massacred thousands of men and abducted thousands of women and girls as sex slaves.

Tuesday night as the sun set over the Lalish stone shrine in northern Iraq, Yazidis began lighting oil lamps, 365 of them, one for each day of the year.

Hundreds came to mark the Yazidi New Year -- which to the faithful commemorates the creation of the universe by angels and celebrates nature and fertility.

Six years after Iraq declared victory over ISIS, the Yazidis came to Lalish barefoot and dressed in white.

The men wore embroidered vests over their shirts while women donned traditional head coverings, featuring gold coins.

"Before, this was a time for celebration and our joy was immense. But today... we cannot forget what we have been through," said Sinan, attending the celebration with his children.

The Yazidis follow an ancient religion that emerged in Iran more than 4,000 years ago and is rooted in Zoroastrianism. Over time it incorporated elements of Islam and Christianity.

The community was persecuted for years, including under Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

'For eternity'

When IS invaded Iraq in August 2014, one of their targets was Sinjar, the Yazidis' historic home on the Nineveh Plain, in a remote corner of the country's north.

"Ever since the genocide, there is sadness in our hearts. It won't go away," said Sinan, a 37-year-old mathematics teacher.

"This sadness will live in us for eternity."

During the New Year celebration, Yazidis pay their respects at the graves of relatives, and those who can afford it slaughter a sheep and offer some of the meat to the poor.

 

(AFP)

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reiterated his country’s position that it would not engage in any peace talks unless Russia withdraws from all Ukrainian territory.

The Kremlin wants Kyiv to acknowledge Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, which Moscow took over in 2014, and to also recognize September’s annexation of the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine has rejected those demands and insists it won’t hold talks with Russia until Moscow’s troops pull back from all occupied territories.

In Iraq, Kuleba met with his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein. It was the first visit by a Ukrainian official to Baghdad since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the first visit by a Ukrainian foreign minister in 11 years.

Hussein pointed to Iraq’s years of experience with war and conflict, as well as with hosting negotiations between hostile parties — such as the recent Saudi-Iran talks.

Baghdad had hosted several rounds of the talks between Riyadh and Tehran before the negotiations broke down. They later resumed with China as mediator, resulting in last month’s announcement that the two regional rivals would restore diplomatic relations.

The Gas Growth Integrated Project, launched by French oil giant Total in 2021, aims to develop facilities to recover natural gas from several oil fields in southern Iraq. That’s where it is currently being “flared” — when the natural gas released through oil production is burned and released into the atmosphere. The project also aims to treat seawater for injection into oil reservoirs to boost production.

Total maintains a 45% share of the project, while Iraq’s Basra Oil Company owns 30%. QatarEnergies said the total investment in the project would be around $10 billion.

“We are pleased to be part of this significant development, which is important for Iraq’s energy sector,” Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs and head of QatarEnergy, said in a statement.

Qatar is one of the world’s biggest natural gas producers and has extensive experience in building gas infrastructure.

Iraq urgently needs to develop local gas resources to meet electricity demands, especially during the peak summer months. The country is heavily reliant on Iranian gas and electricity imports.

The World Bank estimates that Iraq flares nearly 18 billion cubic meters of gas a year, a volume that, if recaptured, could be worth more than $2 billion. Flaring is a huge source of air pollution and greenhouse gases.

Oil provides 90% of Iraq’s public revenues, but the industry has been mired in corruption and mismanagement since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that established a power-sharing government in Baghdad. Sectarian-based parties bicker over government ministries, appoint loyalists to key positions and dole out public sector jobs to supporters.

The oil-rich southern Basra region is among the country’s poorest and most underdeveloped, and residents say they have been sickened by the heavy air pollution caused by flaring.

ExxonMobile had been in negotiations over a similar multi-project deal, but it fell though after years of negotiations. Exxon announced in 2021 that it would be selling its shares from the West Qurna 1 oil field, and London-based BP is spinning off development of the Rumaila field, Iraq’s largest.

Iraqi deaths are estimated in the hundreds of thousands, and nearly 5,000 U.S. troops were killed in the war after President George W. Bush’s administration falsely claimed that Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.

“This body rushed into a war,” said Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat who has pushed for years to repeal the powers.

Senators voted 66-30 to repeal the 2002 measure and also the 1991 authorization that sanctioned the U.S.-led Gulf War. If passed by the House, the repeal would not be expected to affect any current military deployments. But lawmakers in both parties are increasingly seeking to claw back congressional powers over U.S. military strikes and deployments, and some lawmakers who voted for the Iraq War two decades ago now say that was a mistake.

Supporters, including almost 20 Republican senators, say the repeal is crucial to prevent future abuses and to reinforce that Iraq is now a strategic partner of the United States. Opponents say the repeal could project weakness as the U.S. still faces conflict in the Middle East.

"The fluidity in Iraq and the ambitions of Iran are the two reasons why I'm opposed to repeal at this time," said Senator Jim Risch, a Republican from Idaho who sees Iraq as "less than a perfect security partner."

The repeal’s future is less certain in the House, where 49 Republicans joined with Democrats in supporting a similar bill two years ago. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has suggested he is open to supporting a repeal even though he previously opposed it, but Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has indicated he would like to instead replace it with something else. But it is unclear what that would be.

Kaine and Todd Young, R-Ind., who led the effort together, have said they believe a strong bipartisan vote sends a powerful message to Americans who believe their voices should be heard on matters of war and peace.

President Donald Trump’s administration cited the 2002 Iraq war resolution as part of its legal justification for a 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani, but the two war powers resolutions have otherwise rarely been used as the basis for any presidential action. About 2,500 U.S. troops remain in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government and assist and advise local forces.

A separate 2001 authorization for the global war on terror would remain in place under the bill, which President Joe Biden has said he will support.

In a speech she delivered during the 7th Sulaimani Forum, the head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) highlighted the challenges facing the Iraqi government since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, citing a 20-year-long history of external interventions, sectarianism, ISIS war, the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change.

"Only by focusing on the systemic concerns would it be possible to revive public trust. I warned that simmering anger boils over easily, and that failure to act will inevitably lead to a new cycle of violence," she said.

UNAMI chief also said, high oil prices cannot keep the country afloat.

"Drivers of instability in the country's more recent past, remain to a large extent the same, resulting in a pattern of recurring crisis and this include entirely systemic corruption, weak governance, poor service delivery, unemployment, and over-reliance on oil."

Hennis-Plasschaert expressed confidence that Iraq has the capacity to overcome these challenges and that the formation of the current federal government provides an opportunity to do so, but stressed that this requires coordination, joint work, and commitment from all parties in the country.

The UN envoy called on both Erbil and Baghdad to resolve their disputes and outstanding issues through dialogue and in accordance with the country's permanent constitution.

Climate change for years has compounded the woes of the troubled country. Droughts and increased water salinity have destroyed crops, animals and farms and dried up entire bodies of water. Hospitals have faced waves of patients with respiratory illnesses caused by rampant sandstorms. Climate change has also played a role in Iraq’s ongoing struggle to combat cholera.

“More than seven million citizens have been affected in Iraq ... and hundreds of thousands have been displaced because they lost their livelihoods that rely on agriculture and hunting,” Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a speech to open the two-day Iraq Climate Conference in Basra.

Al-Sudani said the Iraqi government is working on a national plan to tackle climate change that consists of a series of measures it hopes to take by 2030. The plan includes building renewable energy plants, modernizing inefficient and outdated irrigation techniques, reducing carbon emissions, combating desertification, and protecting the country’s biodiversity.

Among the projects is a massive afforestation initiative, where Iraq would plant 5 million trees across the country. Iraq also hopes to provide one-third of the country’s electricity demand through renewable energy instead of fossil fuel.

Al-Sudani said he is hoping to organize a regional conference on climate change in Baghdad in the near future as well.

Developments in neighboring countries have also compounded Iraq’s water woes.

Iraq relies on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for nearly all of its water needs. They flow into the country from Turkey and Iran. Because those countries have constructed dams that have either blocked or diverted water, shortages have worsened in Iraq.

Climate change and its impact on Iraq’s water resources and agriculture also comes at an economic cost, destroying people’s livelihoods and making it more likely for Iraq to hike up its imports for basic staples that were once heavily produced in the country, such as wheat. The government once subsidized seeds, fertilizer and pesticides to soften the blow of increasing costs on wheat farmers and maintain a high level of production, but slashed them two years ago.

The German minister was received by Dr. Mirza Danayi, director of the House of Coexistence and was given a tour of the building.

The house is a cultural and social centre that represents the different ethnic groups living in Sinjar in the Nineveh governorate.

The German army is part of the global coalition that was created to fight the Islamic State group, and has a presence in the Kurdish region of Iraq.

In October, the German parliament voted to extend its military presence in Iraq, which is mainly based in the northern region.

Baerbock arrived in Iraq on Tuesday and held a joint press conference with her Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein.

He is also expected to pay a visit to the Kurdistan region.

Austin, whose visit came just days before the 20th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein, said in statement later that he held talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani and Defense Minister Thabet Muhammad Al-Abbasi.

Austin was greeted on touchdown in Baghdad by Maj. Gen. Matthew McFarlane, the U.S. commander in Iraq,which is home to hundreds of American troops helping in the fight against the militant Islamic State group.

Austin also said that U.S. forces are ready to remain in Iraq at the invitation of its government, adding that these forces are operating in a non-combat and advisory role in support of the “Iraqi-led fight against terrorism.”

“This is a critical mission and we’re proud to support our Iraqi partners,” said Austin, one of the most senior Biden administration officials to visit Iraq in recent years.

Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 that removed longtime dictator Saddam from power, Iraq has been a point of friction between the United States and Iran. Tehran has widely expanded its influence in Iraq over the past 20 years.

“We continue to believe that Iraq’s greater integration with its Arab partners in the region will deliver increased stability, security and prosperity, and it will pay dividends not only for Iraqi citizens, but for all people of the region,” Austin said, referring to Iraq improving its relations with Arab countries.

Despite their defeat in Iraq in 2017, IS militants and their sleeper cells are still launching attacks in the country, as well as in neighboring Syria. IS has killed and wounded dozens of Iraqi troops over the past months.

In a related issue, the U.S. has been urging countries around the world to repatriate their citizens from al-Hol camp in northeast Syria,home to tens of thousands of Syrians and Iraqis crowded into tents in the fenced-in camp.

Nearly 20,000 of them are children; most of the rest are women, wives and widows of IS fighters.

A separate, heavily guarded section of the camp known as the annex houses an additional 10,000 people — including 2,000 women from 57 other countries, considered the most die-hard IS supporters, along with about 8,000 of their children.

Iraq has repatriated more than 500 women and children from al-Hol over the pastfewweeks.

“Military action alone won’t ensure the enduring defeat of Daesh,” Austin added.

“So let me recognize the Iraqi government’s ongoing repatriations of Iraqi citizens from northeast Syria.”

Reading from a statement to gathered reporters,Austin said all countries with citizens in the detention facilities and displaced persons camps in northeast Syria “must take similar steps.”

He said the U.S. stands ready to continue supporting Iraq and all countries working to repatriate their citizens.

UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay was to visit reconstruction projects and meet top officials including Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and President Abdel Latif Rachid.

Years of war and insurgency have taken a heavy toll on Iraq's many Mesopotamian, Islamic and Christian treasures including six UNESCO World Heritage sites.

"This visit is dedicated to reconstruction in Iraq," said a spokesman for the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization which funds several projects in Iraq.

Iraq's antiquities have been extensively looted, often by organised crime groups, since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

The national museum in Baghdad, which displayed many ancient relics, was not spared during the invasion when many treasures were stolen.

More damage was done during the brutal rise of the Islamic State group a decade later and the battle to dislodge it which devastated large areas in the northern city of Mosul.

UNESCO will examine how to help Iraq maintain its ancient heritage and put the spotlight back on its culture, the agency's spokesman told AFP.

Azoulay will on Monday tour Iraq's national museum and the historic centre of Baghdad, including the famed Al-Mutanabi streets, home to generations of booksellers.

Iraq saw the rise and fall of pre-Islamic civilisations, including Babylon in ancient Mesopotamia -- often dubbed the cradle of civilisation, where writing first flourished.

UNESCO has also declared natural heritage sites in Iraq, including the southern marshlands fed by the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers.

The vast wetlands have also been put at severe risk, including by draining under Saddam's regime and by climate change and upstream dam construction.

Azoulay will on Tuesday visit Mosul where UNESCO funds major reconstruction projects.

On Wednesday she will head to Arbil, capital of the autonomous region of Kurdistan and home to an ancient citadel that is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

But the specialist retail stores that dominate alcohol sales in the virtual absence of bars or licensed restaurants remained open for business, at least in Baghdad, an AFP correspondent reported.

Public alcohol consumption is frowned upon in mainly Muslim Iraq but beverages can be readily purchased from liquor stores, many of them run by Christians or other non-Muslims.

The new legislation, which bans the sale, import or production of alcohol, was originally approved by parliament in 2016 but only became law following its publication in the official gazette on February 20.

"The General Customs Authority has given orders to all customs centres to ban the entry of all types of alcoholic drink," the authority said in a statement.

The new law sets fines of between 10 million and 25 million dinars ($7,700-$19,000) for violations.

But it contradicts a government decree adopted less than a week earlier on February 14, setting duty at 200 percent on all imported alcoholic drinks for the next four years.

The legislation has drawn sharp criticism from rights activists and lawmakers representing Iraq's dwindling non-Muslim communities.

Earlier this week, five members of parliament from the Christian bloc appealed to the federal Supreme Court, arguing that the ban was unconstitutional because it failed to respect the rights of minorities, lawmaker Duraid Jameel told AFP.

Yazidi activist Murad Ismael underlined in a tweet that even though non-Muslim faiths do not ban alcohol, "the legislation imposes the same restrictions" on their followers as on Muslims.

Mustafa Saadoon, of the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights, said the alcohol ban formed part of a "comprehensive package aimed at restricting freedoms".

He recalled a spate of arrests last month targeting "decadent content" posted on social media platforms.

Baghdad estate agent Sarmad Abbas, 44, said the ban would merely push alcohol sales onto the back market.

He acknowledged that Muslim teachings banned the consumption of alcohol. "But these are personal freedoms that you cannot forbid citizens from practising," he added.

Although the alcohol ban is a federal law, it is unlikely to apply in Kurdistan region, which operates its own customs posts on the northern border with Turkey.

The UN chief's visit, his first to Iraq in six years, comes as the war-torn country prepares to mark the 20th anniversary of the toppling of longtime dictator Saddam Hussein in a US-led invasion.

During a meeting with Dr. Latif Rashid Iraq’s President, Guterres praised the state of security and stability in the country and the efforts made by the President to alleviate the suffering of the displaced.

Guterres said he wanted to demonstrate "solidarity with the people and the democratic institutions of Iraq and a solidarity that means that the United Nations is totally committed to support the consolidation of the institutions in this country".

He said he also wanted to express his "confidence that Iraqis will be able to overcome the difficulties and challenges they still face through an open and inclusive dialogue".

Guterres, who arrived late Tuesday, is due to hold talks with Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, before meeting Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, President Abdel Latif Rashid and parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbusi, the foreign ministry said.

The three leaders are respectively Iraq's top Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni Arab officials under the sectarian power-sharing system established after the US-led invasion toppled Saddam's Sunni Arab-dominated regime.

Guterres will also meet representatives of women's and youth rights groups.

On Thursday, he will visit a camp for displaced people in the north of the country, before heading to Kurdistan regional capital Arbil for talks with Kurdish officials.

He will then travel on to Qatar, where he will attend the summit of the Least Developed Countries.

The UN chief's last visit to Iraq was in spring 2017.

Dr. Latif Rashid told The Associated Press on Sunday that after overcoming the hardships of the past two decades, Iraq is ready to focus on improving everyday life for its people. Those hardships included years of resistance to foreign troops, violence between Sunnis and Shiites, and attacks by Islamic State group extremists who once controlled large areas, including Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul.

“Peace and security is all over the country, and I would be very glad if you will report that and emphasize on that, instead of giving a picture of Iraq ... still (as) a war zone, which a lot of media still do,” Dr. Latif Rashid said.

While Iraq’s major fighting has ended, there have been some recent outbreaks of violence — including on the day of Dr. Latif Rashid’s election, which came after a yearlong stalemate following the October 2021 election. Ahead of the vote, at least nine rockets targeted Iraq’s Parliament inside Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone.

After Dr. Latif Rashid’s election, he nominated Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who formed a government with the backing of a coalition of Iran-backed parties and with promises of improving security and public services.

Despite its oil wealth, Iraq’s infrastructure remains weak. Private generators fill in for the hours of daily state electricity cuts. Long-promised public transportation projects, including a Baghdad metro, have not come to fruition.

Dr. Latif Rashid said this is due to damage as “a result of conflicts and as a result of terror, as a result of a number of years living at war.”

Government critics say the sputtering electricity supply is also a result of endemic corruption, rooted in the country’s sectarian power-sharing system that allows political elites to use patronage networks to consolidate power.

Dr. Latif Rashid, who spoke at his presidential quarters in Saddam’s former palace, also asserted that most Iraqis believe the 2003 invasion of Saddam-ruled Iraq by the United States and its allies was necessary because of the former dictator’s brutality.

He said he believes most Iraqis, “including all sections of the society, the Kurds, the Sunni, the Christian, the Shiites, they were all against” Saddam and appreciate that the U.S. and its allies came to “save” Iraq.

“Obviously certain things did not work out as we hoped. Nobody expected Daesh (the Islamic State group) and nobody expected car bombs,” he said. “It should have been controlled right from the beginning. It should have been studied and planned out right from the beginning. I think the myth was that once Saddam is removed, Iraq becomes heaven.”

The reality proved more difficult, he said, but it hasn’t weakened Iraq’s commitment to democracy.

“Even if you have conflicts and if we have arguments, it’s much better to have a freedom and democracy rather than a dictatorship,” he said.

However, mass anti-government demonstrations that kicked off in late 2019 were often put down by force. Hundreds of protesters were killed by security forces and state-backed armed groups.

Dr. Latif Rashid acknowledged there are still conflicts, but urged Iraqis, particularly the younger generation, to be patient and have faith in the future. “We don’t have much choice but to live together ... and let our democratic election take place to represent our values,” said Rashid, a veteran Kurdish politician and former water minister after Saddam’s ouster.

Dr. Latif Rashid assumed the presidency in October. Under Iraq’s unofficial power-sharing arrangement, the country’s president is always a Kurd, the prime minister a Shiite and the parliament speaker a Sunni.

Dr. Latif Rashid’s job entails helping to maintain a delicate balance among Iraq’s various centers of political power and even-keel relations with both the U.S. and Iran, the government’s two key — and often opposing — international backers.

The balancing act is reflected in a monument near Baghdad airport. It extolls Iran’s Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani, who was targeted and killed in a 2020 U.S. airstrike.

Improving relations with neighbors including Iran, Syria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan is a source of strength for Iraq, Rashid said. Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia had for years kept a distance from Iraq, partly because of its ties to Iran.

He noted with pride that Iraq hosted a Mideast meeting of senior Arab lawmakers on Saturday and expressed the country’s willingness to continue serving as a mediator in now-stalled talks between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Latif Rashid also promised to take a hard line on corruption.

In October, reports emerged that over $2.5 billion in Iraqi government revenue was embezzled by a network of businesses and officials from the country’s tax authority. And in recent months, amid allegations of widespread money laundering used to smuggle dollars to U.S.-sanctioned Iran and Syria, the U.S. has taken measures to tighten Iraq’s dollar supply, putting pressure on the currency.

“I admit, we did have and we still have some problems with corruption, but the government is very serious (about fighting it),” Rashid said, adding that the government and the central bank are taking measures to regulate transfers out of the country to deter money laundering.

Economically, he said, Iraq is focusing on rebuilding industry and agriculture damaged by years of conflict, and developing its natural gas reserves so as not to be dependent on buying gas from neighboring countries — notably Iran.

Despite the currency’s devaluation and inflation in recent months, Iraq’s prospects are good, he said, buoyed by strong oil production and high global oil prices.

“Iraq economically is in a sound position and probably is one of the countries in the world which (does not have) a deficit in our budget,” he said.

Iraq has taken a key role as a mediator between Iran and Saudi Arabia since 2021, after Riyadh broke off diplomatic relations in 2016, but efforts have been deadlocked for several months.

Amir-Abdollahian, speaking to reporters in Baghdad alongside his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, hailed the efforts "to strengthen talks and cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Iran".

Since April 2021, Iraq has hosted a series of meetings between the two sides, but no talks have been publicly announced since April 2022.

"As part of the strengthening of cooperation with... the countries of the region, we welcome a resumption of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia," he said.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have backed opposing sides in various conflicts in the region, including in Yemen.

Amir-Abdollahian also spoke to similar mediation efforts carried out between Iran and Egypt.

He also mentioned slow progress in talks in Vienna with world powers aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear accord, which promised Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for cutting back its nuclear activities.

The United States unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions, prompting Iran to begin walking back on its commitments under the accord.
Negotiations to return to the deal started in 2021 but stalled last year.

Iran is ready "to take steps to conclude the negotiations... on the basis of previous discussions and respecting the red lines" defined by Tehran, Amir-Abdollahian said.

"But if the American side chooses another path... all options are on the table", he added, without elaborating.

His Iraqi counterpart pleaded for a resumption of talks.

"It is important for Iraq that the Iranian and American parties reach an agreement", Hussein said.

The two ministers also discussed security on their border, after Iran last year bombed Iranian Kurdish opposition groups sheltering in northern Iraq.

Tehran accuses Iraq-based Kurdish groups of carrying out attacks in Iran, and of encouraging the months-long protests that erupted after the September 16 death in custody of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, following her arrest for an alleged breach of dress rules.

Iraq later redeployed border guards to limit tensions.

"The Iraqi government has taken a series of measures to protect the frontier, and we agree that certain groups should not be allowed to cross this border," Hussein said.

The soldiers were carrying out a raid on a suspected ISIS cell in the Tarmiya district north of the capital after receiving intelligence that the militants were planning to target Shiite Muslims making the annual pilgrimage to the shrine and burial site of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim in northern Baghdad, the state-run Iraqi News Agency reported.

In addition to the suicide bomber, two other members of the cell were killed in clashes with the army, it said. The army was searching the surrounding area for other potential militants.

Meanwhile, amid chilly temperatures and heavy security, thousands of black-clad pilgrims from across Iraq marched Thursday in the annual procession in marking the death of a Shiite saint.

Pilgrims traditionally travel on foot to the shrine and burial site of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim, the seventh of 12 Shiite imams who died in a Baghdad prison in the eighth century. The procession leads to the site in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Kadimiyah. Participants wear black, with some carrying out self-flagellation to publicly express their mourning.

Tents were pitched along the kilometers of road that the pilgrims were walking Thursday, handing out food and water free of charge. Thousands of Iraqi security forces were deployed across the city to ensure the safety of the pilgrims, while some roads and bridges were closed to vehicles to allow pedestrian traffic only.

Sadiq Jaffar, 27, of Baghdad, told The Associated Press he was taking part in the pilgrimage “because it is important to my identity, despite all the problems that the country is facing such as the increase in the price of food and the rampant corruption.”

This year’s pilgrimage takes place just ahead of the 20-year anniversary next month of the U.S. invasion of Iraq that led to the downfall of longtime dictator Saddam Hussein. Hussein had banned such pilgrimages from taking place.

During years of civil war that followed, insurgents repeatedly targeted Shiite pilgrims during their religious ceremonies.

 

The US-Italian team made the find in the ruins of ancient Lagash, northeast of the modern city of Nasiriyah, which was already known to have been one of the first urban centres of the Sumerian civilization of ancient Iraq.

The joint team from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pisa discovered the remains of a primitive refrigeration system, a large oven, benches for diners and around 150 serving bowls.

Fish and animal bones were found in the bowls, alongside evidence of beer drinking, which was widespread among the Sumerians.

"So we've got the refrigerator, we've got the hundreds of vessels ready to be served, benches where people would sit... and behind the refrigerator is an oven that would have been used... for cooking food," project director Holly Pittman told AFP.

"What we understand this thing to be is a place where people -- regular people -- could come to eat and that is not domestic," she said.

"We call it a tavern because beer is by far the most common drink, even more than water, for the Sumerians", she said, noting that in one of the temples excavated in the area "there was a beer recipe that was found on a cuneiform tablet".