Shiia Pilgrimage in Northern Baghdad Proves Progress
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2004 -- The annual Shiia pilgrimage to northern Baghdad's
Kadimiyah Shrine took place Sept. 11 without incident and without involvement
of multinational forces, proving the Iraqi people and their interim government
have made progress, military officials said in a news release from Baghdad.
In March 2003 during the Islamic holy day of Ashura, 58 Iraqis were killed and
200 were wounded at the shrine when suicide bombers attacked those paying their
respects to the imams buried there.
Shiia events like this pilgrimage were formally suppressed under Saddam
Hussein, a professed Sunni Muslim. His arrest has allowed Shiia Muslims to
practice their religion with more freedom, officials said.
In other news from Iraq, the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division
transferred authority to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division in
a Sept. 11 ceremony. The 1st Brigade Combat Team soldiers are returning to Fort
Riley, Kan., after more than a year in Iraq.
The team initially was attached to the 82nd Airborne Division during its Iraq
deployment, and has been attached to the 1st Marine Division since March 20. In
addition to its combat operations, the team also formed and trained the 60th
Iraqi National Guard Brigade and sponsored more $23.8 million in civil projects
in the Anbar province.
Before deploying to Iraq to relieve the 1st Brigade Combat Team, the soldiers of
the 2nd Brigade combat team were deployed to Korea.
Joint operations continue in Tal Afar to remove the foreign fighters who have
forced citizens from their city. The objective of these operations, officials
said, is to return security and governance to legitimate Iraqi control and to
allow families to return to their homes in peace.
Multinational forces and Iraqi security forces have secured the main road
around the city and are moving into Tal Afar to eliminate the presence of the
terrorists who have taken control from legitimate Iraqi leaders, officials
said.
During these operations, multinational forces and Iraqi security forces
continue to work with Iraqi Red Crescent and medical personnel to provide
medical assistance to citizens injured in the terrorist attacks, officials
said. Multinational Forces also are providing humanitarian aid to displaced
citizens in the form of food and water delivered to camps set up outside the
city, they added.
A Multinational Force Iraq news release said the operations support Ninevah
Gov. Duraid Kashmoula's objective to remove unwelcome foreign terrorists from
Tal Afar and to return control to legitimate Iraqi authorities.
A $99,960 Multinational Force Iraq school refurbishment project will be
complete by Oct. 20, as part of the ongoing humanitarian and reconstruction
effort in the country. The Ibn al-Athir School, an elementary school in Baghdad
attended by 972 students, will consist of 48 rooms and 40,000 square feet upon
completion. Construction, which began Aug. 20, includes work on interior and
exterior projects, electricity, lighting, sewer, window work, water storage,
pumps, debris removal, painting and stripping, floor work and carpeting,
general damage refurbishment, and a waterproof projector and bell system,
officials said.
The construction project is made possible through the Commander's Emergency
Response Program, otherwise known as "CERP" funds, officials said, part of a
larger effort aimed at giving commanders on the ground the power to fix
important infrastructure problems quickly. To date, some 70 other schools have
been renovated in the Baghdad area under the program.
The 1st Infantry Division's Engineers Electricity Ministry Team is overseeing a
series of improvement projects at the thermal power plant in Bayji.
Construction is under way on a health care center that will service more than
4,000 employees and family members of employees of the plant. A chemical
warehouse also being built to improve the plant's operational capacity,
officials said. Both projects are 50 percent complete. "These projects are
providing jobs for Iraqi workers, improving the operational capacity of the
plant, and improving the quality of life for families in Bayji," a
Multinational Force Iraq news release said.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq news releases.)
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