Growing Iranian presence and influence in parts of Iraq скачать в хорошем качестве

Growing Iranian presence and influence in parts of Iraq

(26 Jul 2003) Karbala 1. Street scene 2. Various of people doing business 3. Various pictures of Shiite leaders 4. Picture of Late Ayatollah Khomeini the Iranian former leader (first on the right) 5. Iraqi boy holding Khomeini's picture 6. Pictures of Shiite leaders 7. Selection of books written by Ayatollah Khomeini 8. Shot of Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq 9. Man selling pictures at street mall 10. Picture of Khomeini 11. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) VOX POP: "Imam Khomeini is our leader. We think he is a holy person. We love him. Not today we have loved him forever. We were frightened by Saddam government and could not express our feeling about him before." 12. Street scene of Karbala 13. Shot of Khomeini's picture 14. Various of Khomeini's picture 15. Wide shot of Karbala 16. Picture of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 17. Various of Shiite leader's books 18. Tilt to Khomeini's picture 19. A group of Iranians mourning and going to Karbala Shrine 20. Picture of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 21. Arab man looking at a picture of one of the Shiites leader 22. Khamenei and Khomeini together in picture Najaf, Iraq 23. Wide shot of Friday prayers 24. Al-Hakim making speech at Friday prayers 25. Friday prayers 26. Al-Hakim's bodyguard 27. People selling pictures of Khomeini and Khamenei Karbala 28. American soldiers on patrol 29. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) VOX POP: "As you see the pictures have been put up by Muslims. We respect these Shiite leaders. Sticking these pictures inside the shrines are not allowed. The office responsible for the Shrine won't let the people stick the pictures inside. But there is a special notice board where people can put pictures of the ones they love but individuals do this and after a few days we gather them again." 30. Wide shot of Karbala STORYLINE: Iran is still charged by critics of interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq. And in Iraq's Shiite holy cities, the influence of Iran's religious leaders is now on full display. Thousands of Iranians come to Iraq for pilgrimage and the number of pictures of high ranking Iranian leaders being distributed and posted up in Iraq are increasing every day. With Saddam Hussein now out of power, Shiite muslims in Iraq - who share the same branch of Islam as many Iranians - are now free to look to the late Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran as their political and religious leader. Across street markets in the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf, pictures of Khomeini, and the current supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, are littered across stalls and selling in large numbers. Among those now preaching in Najaf - Iraq's centre for Shiite Islam scholarship - is Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim. Al-Hakim, is the leader of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq, the largest Iraqi Shiite Muslim group opposed to Saddam Hussein. He fled Iraq more than two decades ago after 19 of his family members were killed during Saddam's regime. He lived in exile in Iran and under protection of its Shiite religious leaders from 1980. After the fall of Saddam, Al-Hakim returned home to Iraq, and to an emotional welcome by tens of thousands of his followers. He has called for Iraq to become an Islamic state - but condemned religious extremism. He has also said Iraq must be governed by Iraqis, not foreigners. The Shiite sect of Islam, a minority in the Islamic world, comprises about 60 percent of Iraq's population. It was persecuted and oppressed under Saddam's Sunni Muslim-dominated regime. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...