Iraqis marked the start of the Muslim holidays of Eid Wednesday under the cloud of both the embargo and the Palestinian Intifada that has cost more than 350 lives.
After dawn prayers, residents of Baghdad converged on cemeteries to gather round the tombs of their family members, as is the custom on the first day of the holidays that follow the fasting month of Ramadan.
Almost 1.5 million Iraqis, most of them children, have died as a result of shortages linked to UN sanctions in force against Baghdad since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, according to the health ministry.
"For Iraqis, the greatest Eid will be the lifting of the embargo," said Maaruf Ismail, a 65-year-old pensioner.
"The only new thing this Eid (represents) is the daily report of the Intifada martyrs in the Palestinian territories who are being killed by the Zionists," the father of eight told AFP.
Fawzi Dhamen, a young pastry chef, said on a more upbeat note that "this year's Eid coincides with the heroic resistance of our (Arab) people in Palestine against the daily Israeli-US aggressions."
And the official press in Baghdad, which has called for a jihad (holy war) against the Jewish state, urged Iraqis "not to forget the Intifada of our brothers fighting in Palestine against the Zionist invaders." -- BAGHDAD (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
