November 27, 2009

Fifty

Title: A view of the Martyr's cemetery as relatives visit the graves.

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Caption: A view of the Martyr's cemetery as relatives visit the graves of loved ones at the start of Eid al-Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice on November 27, 2009, in the holy city of Najaf, 150kms from Baghdad. Muslims around the world celebrate Eid-al-Adha by slaughtering sheep, goats, cows and camels to commemorate Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismail, on God's command and by visiting the graves of relatives. Eid al-Adha also marks the end of the annual pilgrimage to the Saudi holy city of Mecca.

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AFP PHOTO / QASSEM ZEIN (Photo credit should read QASSEM ZEIN/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 27 Nov 2009

Forty Nine

Relatives visit a Sadrist cemetery during the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, November 27, 2009.

REUTERS/Ali Abu Shish (IRAQ CONFLICT POLITICS RELIGION)

Forty Eight

Relatives visit the grave of a member of the Shi'ite Mehdi army militia in a Sadrist cemetery during the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, November 27, 2009.

REUTERS/Ali Abu Shish (IRAQ CONFLICT RELIGION)

Forty Seven

Residents demonstrate outside Nineveh governing council in Mosul, 390 km (242 miles) north of Baghdad, November 25, 2009. About 1,000 people gathered on Wednesday to protest against the reduction of seats in Nineveh province by the parliament for the upcoming January general election, local media reported. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousuly (IRAQ POLITICS CONFLICT) REUTERS/STR

Forty Six

Title: An Iraqi woman prays at the decorated grave of a loved one

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Caption: An Iraqi woman prays at the decorated grave side of a loved one at the Martyr's cemetery at the start of Eid al-Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice on November 27, 2009, in the holy city of Najaf, 150kms from Baghdad. Muslims around the world celebrate Eid-al-Adha by slaughtering sheep, goats, cows and camels to commemorate Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismail, on God's command and by visiting the graves of relatives. Eid al-Adha also marks the end of the annual pilgrimage to the Saudi holy city of Mecca.

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AFP PHOTO / QASSEM ZEIN (Photo credit should read QASSEM ZEIN/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 27 Nov 2009

Forty Five

An Iraqi man stands close to upturned tables and chairs outside a restaurant following twin blasts in the southern city of Karbala, 110 kilometres (69 miles) south of the capital Baghdad, on November 25. A spate of attacks in Iraq killed seven people and struck a church and a convent on Thursday, with one bomb at a busy market claiming three lives as shoppers stocked up for a Muslim holiday.

(AFP/File/Mohammed Sawaf)

Forty Four

This picture was taken by a British soldier after a firefight near Al Majaar Al Kabir in southern Iraq on 14 May 2004.

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The Iraqis were interrogated at a British military facility known as Camp Abu Naji.

Forty Three

Title: Iraqi relatives visit the graves of loved ones

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Caption: Iraqi relatives visit the graves of loved ones at the Martyr's cemetery on the first day of Eid al-Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice on November 27, 2009, in the holy city of Najaf, 150kms south of Baghdad. Muslims around the world celebrate Eid-al-Adha by slaughtering sheep, goats, cows and camels to commemorate Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismail, on God's command and by visiting the graves of relatives. Eid al-Adha also marks the end of the annual pilgrimage to the Saudi holy city of Mecca.

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AFP PHOTO / QASSEM ZEIN (Photo credit should read QASSEM ZEIN/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 27 Nov 2009

Forty Two

An Iraqi man inspects a damaged restaurant in al-naqeeb neighborhood, central Karbala, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, following a bomb explosion, on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009. A suicide motorcycle bomber detonated his explosives Wednesday, in Central Karbala, killing 4 civilians and injuring 29 others, health officials said.

(AP Photo/Ahmed Alhusseiney)

Forty One

An Iraqi woman inspects the ruins of a bombed restaurant in al-naqeeb neighborhood, central Karbala, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, following a suicide bomb explosion, on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009. A suicide motorcycle bomber detonated his explosives Wednesday, in Central Karbala, killing 4 civilians and injuring 29 others, health officials said.

(AP Photo/Ahmed Alhusseiney)

Forty

An Iraqi woman reacts in al-naqeeb neighborhood, central Karbala, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, following a suicide bomb explosion, on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009. A suicide motorcycle bomber detonated his explosives targeting a restaurant, Wednesday, in Central Karbala, killing 4 civilians and injuring 29 others, health officials said.

(AP Photo/Ahmed Alhusseiney)

Thirty Nine

Iraqi women look on as police commandos patrol the southern city of Karbala. Iraqi police said unknown attackers broke into a house and slit the throats of two women in a brutal killing in which four other people including a teenage girl were gunned down.

(AFP/Mohammed Sawaf)

Thirty Eight

British soldiers search Iraqis on the outskirts of Basra in 2003. Top civil servants are being grilled over fears Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction -- used to support the 2003 invasion but never borne out -- at an inquiry into the conflict.

(AFP/File/Odd Andersen)

Thirty Seven

Hundreds of Iraqi protesters demonstrate against the Election law in the city of Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009. The protesters gathered in the northern city of Mosul, where insurgents retain a foothold, to denounce the amended law because they said it reduced the number of seats in their province, Nineveh.

(AP Photo)

Thirty Six

Hundrends of Iraqi protesters demonstrate against the election law in the city of Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009. The protesters gathered in the northern city of Mosul, where insurgents retain a foothold, to denounce the amended law because they said it reduced the number of seats in their province, Nineveh.

(AP Photo)

Thirty Five

Residents demonstrate outside Nineveh governing council in Mosul, 390 km (242 miles) north of Baghdad, November 25, 2009. About 1,000 people gathered on Wednesday to protest against the reduction of seats in Nineveh province by the parliament for the upcoming January general election, local media reported.

REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousuly (IRAQ POLITICS CONFLICT)

Thirty Four

Title: Daoud Mousa, father of Iraqi hotel worker who was killed in British custody

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Caption: Daoud Mousa, father of Iraqi hotel worker Baha Mousa, arrives to attend a public inquiry into the death of his son, in London on November 16, 2009. Baha Mousa died in Basra, Iraq, on September 15, 2003, while in the custody of British troops.

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AFP PHOTO/Adrian Dennis (Photo credit should read ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 16 Nov 2009

Thirty Three

Title: Iraqi marsh Arabs look at their dilapidated wooden dug out canoes

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Caption: Iraqi marsh Arabs look at their dilapidated wooden dug out canoes lying in the dried out Hor or marshes, some 130 km southwest of the southern city of Basra, on November 18, 2009. The inhabitants of these ancient marshes are today suffering from the slow suffocation of the marshes due to drought which is altering their fishing patterns and the migration of birds and the breeding of water buffalo. During the regime of the late leader Saddam Hussein, sections of the marshes were drained.

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AFP PHOTO / ESSAM AL-SUDANI

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(Photo credit should read ESSAM AL-SUDANI/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 19 Nov 2009

Thirty Two

Title: Carrying the national flag, Iraqis protest in Najaf

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Caption: Carrying the national flag, Iraqis protest in the southern city of Najaf, 150 kms from the capital Baghdad, calling for the release of prisoners currently on death row on November 19, 2009. Some 2000 Iraqis from all over the southern provinces converged on this holy city to ask for clemency for the prisoners.

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AFP PHOTO / QASSEM ZEIN (Photo credit should read QASSEM ZEIN/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 19 Nov 2009

Thirty One

Title: Iraqi children in the southern city of Najaf

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Caption: Iraqi children in the southern city of Najaf, 150 kms from the capital Baghdad, hold banners as they gather to mark Children's Day on November 19, 2009. The gathering was organised by UNCEF.

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AFP PHOTO / QASSEM ZEIN

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(Photo credit should read QASSEM ZEIN/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 19 Nov 2009

Thirty

Title: Iraqis some holding up their national flag

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Caption: Iraqis some holding up their national flag protest in the southern city of Najaf, 150 kms from the capital Baghdad, calling for the release of prisoners currently on death row on November 19, 2009. Some 2000 Iraqis from all over the southern provinces converged on this holy city to ask for clemency for the prisoners.

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AFP PHOTO / QASSEM ZEIN

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(Photo credit should read QASSEM ZEIN/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 19 Nov 2009

Twenty Nine

Title: Iraqis take to the streets of the southern city of Najaf

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Caption: Iraqis take to the streets of the southern city of Najaf, 150 kms from Baghdad, as they protest against the actions a legislator that could jeopardize the upcoming January national elections on November 20, 2009.The Iraqi parliament will tomorrow attempt to finally pass an electoral law jeopardized by Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi's demand that it be changed before a general election can go ahead.

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AFP PHOTO / QASSEM ZEIN

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(Photo credit should read QASSEM ZEIN/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 20 Nov 2009

Twenty Eight

Title: An Iraqi man shouts as some 300 Iraqis protest

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Caption: An Iraqi man shouts as some 300 Iraqis protest outside the Basra governorate, 550kms south of Baghdad, against the actions of a legislator that could jeopardize the upcoming January national elections on November 20, 2009. The Iraqi parliament will tomorrow attempt to finally pass an electoral law jeopardized by Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi's demand that it be changed before a general election can go ahead.

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AFP PHOTO / ESSAM AL-SUDANI

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(Photo credit should read ESSAM AL-SUDANI/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 20 Nov 2009

Twenty Seven

Title: A worker has a rest from digging at a common grave yard

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Caption: A worker has a rest from digging at a common grave yard in the north eastern town of Baquba, some 60 kms from Baghdad on November 21, 2009. Fifteen unidentified bodies found by the police and farmers over several months in Diyala province and which were not claimed by family members were buried in numbered graves this morning.

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AFP PHOTO / STR

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(Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 21 Nov 2009

Twenty Six

Smoke billows following a blast close to the Justice Ministry in central Baghdad on October 25, 2009.

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Iraq on Sunday for the first time said that the bombers who killed more than 150 people in Baghdad on October 25 came from neighbouring Syria, but steered well clear of accusing Damascus of collusion.

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(AFP/File/Sabah Arar)

Twenty Five

Demonstrators play the roles of jailers and prisoners as they take part in a protest demanding the release of detainees, in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, November 19, 2009. More than 2,000 residents gathered from different cities to protest in Najaf on Thursday.

REUTERS/Ali Abu Shish (IRAQ CONFLICT POLITICS)

Twenty Four

Demonstrators play the roles of jailers and prisoners as they take part in a protest demanding the release of detainees, in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, November 19, 2009. More than 2,000 residents gathered from different cities to protest in Najaf on Thursday.

REUTERS/Ali Abu Shish (IRAQ CONFLICT POLITICS)

Twenty Three

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Demonstrators take part in a protest demanding the release of detainees, in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, November 19, 2009.

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More than 2,000 residents gathered from different cities to protest in Najaf on Thursday.

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REUTERS/Ali Abu Shish

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(IRAQ CONFLICT POLITICS)

Twenty Two

Demonstrators take part in a protest demanding the release of detainees, in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, November 19, 2009.

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More than 2,000 residents gathered from different cities to protest in Najaf on Thursday.

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REUTERS/Ali Abu Shish

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(IRAQ CONFLICT POLITICS)

Twenty One

Iraqi women hold pictures of their relatives, who are prisoners, during a protest in Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009. About 2,000 protesters gathered in Najaf in response to Shiite radical cleric Muqtada Al Sadr's call , demanding from the Iraqi government the release of detainees, most of whom are loyalists of the Sadr movement.

(AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)

Twenty

A protester holds a huge Iraqi Flag during a protest in Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009. About 2,000 protesters gathered in Najaf in response to Shiite radical cleric Muqtada Al Sadr's call, demanding from the Iraqi government the release of detainees, most of whom are loyalists of the Sadr movement.

(AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)

Nineteen

Iraqi demonstrators chant slogans during a protest in Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009. About 2,000 protesters gathered in Najaf in response to Shiite radical cleric Muqtada Al Sadr's call, demanding from the Iraqi government the release of detainees, most of whom are loyalists of the Sadr movement.

(AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)

Eighteen

An Iraqi Shiite woman chants slogans during a protest in Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009. About 2,000 protesters gathered in Najaf in response to Shiite radical cleric Muqtada Al Sadr's call, demanding from the Iraqi government the release of detainees, most of whom are loyalists of the Sadr movement.

(AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)

Seventeen

An Iraqi Shiite woman holds a picture of Muqtada Al Sadr during a protest in Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009.

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About 2,000 protesters gathered in Najaf in response to Shiite radical cleric Muqtada Al Sadr's call, demanding from the Iraqi government the release of detainees, most of whom are loyalists of the Sadr movement.

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(AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)

Sixteen

An Iraqi man displays a victory sign with his fingers as another holds a picture of Mouqtada al Sadr, during a protest in Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009. About 2,000 protesters gathered in Najaf in response to Shiite radical cleric Muqtada Al Sadr's call, demanding from the Iraqi government the release of detainees, most of whom are loyalists of the Sadr movement.

(AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)

Fifteen

Iraqi Shiite protesters chant slogans against the veto made by Iraq's Sunni Arab vice president Tariq al-Hashemi on the election law, in front of a banner which reads in Arabic ' Nothing to fear on Iraq as long as Maliki is in power', in Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, on Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. Iraqi lawmakers will vote Saturday on how to break a deadlock over a key election law after a vice president vetoed the legislation, causing a crisis that could delay a national vote scheduled for January and affect the timetable for an American troop withdrawal.

(AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)

Fourteen

Iraqi Shiite protesters chant slogans against the veto made by Iraq's Sunni Arab vice president Tariq al-Hashemi on the election law in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad,on Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. Iraqi lawmakers will vote Saturday on how to break a deadlock over a key election law after a vice president vetoed the legislation, causing a crisis that could delay a national vote scheduled for January and affect the timetable for an American troop withdrawal.

(AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

Thirteen

Joao Silva for The New York Times

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Iraqi workers repairing the Foreign Ministry in Baghdad, which was severely damaged in a bomb attack in August.

Twelve

Joao Silva for The New York Times

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A vehicle destroyed by a bomb outside the provincial council building in October.

Eleven

Joao Silva for The New York Times

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An Iraqi man collapsed in tears outside the provincial council building.

Ten

Joao Silva for The New York Times

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An Iraqi rescue worker sat near vehicles destroyed by a bomb outside Baghdad’s provincial council building in October.

Nine

Title: Iraqi Doctors See A Huge Growth In Children Born With Deformities

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Caption: FALLUJA, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 12: The feet of a child who suffers from a birth defect on November 12, 2009 in the city of Falluja west of Baghdad, Iraq. Birth defects have soared in Fallujah, which was the site of two major battles between the U.S military and insurgents after the invasion of Iraq according to Iraqi doctors. (Photo by Muhannad Fala'ah / Getty Images)

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Date created: 12 Nov 2009

Eight

Title: Iraqi Doctors See A Huge Growth In Children Born With Deformities

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Caption: FALLUJA, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 12: Anas Hamed (R), and his sister Inas who suffer from birth defects are pictured on November 12, 2009 in the city of Falluja west of Baghdad, Iraq. Birth defects have soared in Fallujah, which was the site of two major battles between the U.S military and insurgents after the invasion of Iraq according to Iraqi doctors. (Photo by Muhannad Fala'ah / Getty Images)

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Date created: 12 Nov 2009

Seven

Title: Iraqi Doctors See A Huge Growth In Children Born With Deformities

Caption: FALLUJA, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 12: (R to L) Yousif Hamed, age 4 years old, his brother Anas Hamed and his sister Inas who suffer from birth defects are pictured on November 12, 2009 in the city of Falluja west of Baghdad, Iraq. Birth defects have soared in Fallujah, which was the site of two major battles between the U.S military and insurgents after the invasion of Iraq according to Iraqi doctors. (Photo by Muhannad Fala'ah / Getty Images)

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Date created: 12 Nov 2009

Six

Title: Iraqi Doctors See A Huge Growth In Children Born With Deformities

Caption: FALLUJA, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 12: Yousif Hamed (L), age 4 years old, and his sister Inas who suffer from birth defects are seen on November 12, 2009 at their house in the city of Falluja west of Baghdad, Iraq. Birth defects have soared in Fallujah, which was the site of two major battles between the U.S military and insurgents after the invasion of Iraq according to Iraqi doctors. (Photo by Muhannad Fala'ah / Getty Images)

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Date created: 12 Nov 2009

Five

Title: Iraqi Doctors See A Huge Growth In Children Born With Deformities

Caption: FALLUJA, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 12: An Iraqi policeman stands over a house, damaged in Falluja battle between the U.S military and insurgents in 2004 on November 12, 2009 in the city of Falluja west of Baghdad, Iraq. Birth defects have soared in Fallujah, which was the site of two major battles between the U.S military and insurgents after the invasion of Iraq according to Iraqi doctors. (Photo by Muhannad Fala'ah / Getty Images)

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Date created: 12 Nov 2009

Four

Title: Iraqi Doctors See A Huge Growth In Children Born With Deformities

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Caption: FALLUJA, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 12: (R to L) Ammar Yasir, age 5 years old, Mustafa Yasir, age 3 years old held by his cousin, Mariam Yasir , age 6 years old, and their mother are seen through a window on November 12, 2009 in the city of Falluja west of Baghdad, Iraq. Mariam, Ammar and Mustafa suffer from birth defects. Birth defects have soared in Fallujah, which was the site of two major battles between the U.S military and insurgents after the invasion of Iraq according to Iraqi doctors. (Photo by Muhannad Fala'ah / Getty Images)

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Date created: 12 Nov 2009

Three

Title: Iraqi Doctors See A Huge Growth In Children Born With Deformities

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Caption: FALLUJA, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 12: Mariam Yasir, age 6 years old, who suffers from a birth defect is held by her mother on November 12, 2009 in the city of Falluja west of Baghdad, Iraq. Birth defects have soared in Fallujah, which was the site of two major battles between the U.S military and insurgents after the invasion of Iraq according to Iraqi doctors.

(Photo by Muhannad Fala'ah / Getty Images)

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Date created: 12 Nov 2009

Two

An Iraqi prisoner looks through the bars of his prison cell in the southern Iraqi city of Basra in May 2004. Britain's defence minister is set to announce details this week of an inquiry into the alleged torture and murder of Iraqi detainees by British troops, a spokeswoman has said.

(AFP/File/Hani al-Obeidi)

One

REUTERS PICTURES OF THE DECADE.

Rescuers carry a wounded man from the rubble of a building demolished by a bomb in the centre of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad June 14, 2004. A suicide car bomber blew himself up on a busy Baghdad street on Monday as a convoy of foreigners in civilian cars drove past, partly demolishing a nearby building, police at the scene said.

REUTERS/Faleh Kheiber (IRAQ)

November 24, 2009

50

Title: Iraqi Doctors See A Huge Growth In Children Born With Deformities

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Caption: FALLUJA, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 12: Zahra Muhammad, age 4 years old, who suffers from a birth defect is held by her father on November 12, 2009 in the city of Falluja west of Baghdad, Iraq. Birth defects have soared in Fallujah, which was the site of two major battles between the U.S military and insurgents after the invasion of Iraq according to Iraqi doctors. (Photo by Muhannad Fala'ah / Getty Images)

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Date created: 12 Nov 2009

49

Title: An Iraqi woman holds the image of her son

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Caption: An Iraqi woman holds the image of her son during a protest in central Najaf, 150 kms south of Baghdad on November 14, 2009. Some 800 Iraqis from all over the southern provinces gathered in Najaf to call on Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki cancel the death sentences passed on their jailed relatives and to release them.

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AFP PHOTO / QASSEM ZEIN (Photo credit should read QASSEM ZEIN/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 14 Nov 2009

48

Title: An Iraqi woman holds up a poster

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Caption: An Iraqi woman hold up a poster during a protest in central Najaf, 150 kms south of Baghdad on November 14, 2009. Some 800 Iraqis from all over the southern provinces gathered in Najaf to call on Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki cancel the death sentences passed on their jailed relatives and to release them.

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AFP PHOTO / QASSEM ZEIN (Photo credit should read QASSEM ZEIN/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 14 Nov 2009

47

Title: Iraqi Doctors See A Huge Growth In Children Born With Deformities

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Caption: FALLUJA, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 12: Iraqi Dr. Aiman Qeis is pictured at Falluja General Hospital on November 12, 2009 in the city of Falluja west of Baghdad, Iraq. Birth defects have soared in Fallujah, which was the site of two major battles between the U.S military and insurgents after the invasion of Iraq according to Iraqi doctors. (Photo by Muhannad Fala'ah / Getty Images)

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Date created: 12 Nov 2009

46

The hands of Iraqi juvenile prisoners are seen dangling from the bars of their cell at the Al-Karkh Juvenile Correctional Center in Baghdad in 2004. British troops forced an Iraqi detainee to wear an orange jump suit and told him that he was to be executed at Guantanamo Bay camp, according to allegations published in a newspaper.

(AFP/File/Marwan Naamani)

45

Iraqis pick through the remains of a suicide car bomb at a market in the northern city of Kirkuk, 240 kms from Baghdad. Six people died and seven were wounded when a booby-trapped car exploded at a market in the ethnically mixed northern city of Kirkuk, police said.

(AFP/Marwan Ibrahim)

44

An Iraqi fire-fighter walks past a destroyed vehicle following a suicide car bomb in the northern city of Kirkuk. Gunmen in Iraqi army uniforms launched execution-style attacks west of Baghdad, killing 13 members of a tribe who took up arms against Al-Qaeda.

(AFP/Marwan Ibrahim)

43

In this photo taken on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, an Iraqi man walks in front of the destroyed building of the Ministry of Justice in Baghdad, Iraq. Recent bombings that hit government buildings in downtown Baghdad killed more than 250 people and wounded hundreds more. The blasts also had a wider effect: slowing down the government services Iraqis use on a daily basis.

(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

42

In this photo taken Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, the statue of the late Iraqi King Faysal stands in front of a part of the destroyed building of the Ministry of Justice in Baghdad, Iraq. Recent bombings that hit government buildings in downtown Baghdad killed more than 250 people and wounded hundreds more. The blasts also had a wider effect: slowing down the government services Iraqis use on a daily basis.

(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

41

In this photo taken on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, Sadiya Khadem Rashid, holds a a pink envelop containing documents as she waits to enter the destroyed building of Baghdad's Provincial Administration, unseen, in Iraq. Rashid came to the government institution to stamp documents that prove she was displaced which would enable her to collect $850 in compensation from the Iraqi government. Recent bombings that hit government buildings in downtown Baghdad killed more than 250 people and wounded hundreds more. The blasts also had a wider effect: slowing down the government services Iraqis use on a daily basis.

(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

40

In this photo taken Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, Iraqis works in front of the destroyed building of Baghdad's Provincial Administration, in Iraq, The building is one of three government institutions that were destroyed by the twin suicide car bombs that exploded on Oct. 25, 2009. Recent bombings that hit government buildings in downtown Baghdad killed more than 250 people and wounded hundreds more. The blasts also had a wider effect: slowing down the government services Iraqis use on a daily basis.

(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

39

In this photo taken Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, a big crater is seen in the middle of two destroyed government building the Ministry of Municipalities and Public, with a huge Iraqi flag on it, background, and the Justice Ministry foreground following a bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq. Recent bombings that hit government buildings in downtown Baghdad killed more than 250 people and wounded hundreds more. The blasts also had a wider effect: slowing down the government services Iraqis use on a daily basis.

(AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

38

People mourn next the a coffin of a man who was one of 13 people that were executed by insurgents, during a funeral in the village of al-Saadan near the town of Abu Ghraib on Baghdad's western outskirts, Iraq, on Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. Gunmen dressed in Iraqi army uniforms are reported to have abducted and killed 13 people whose bodies were found Monday with gunshot wounds to the head, including a local leader of Iraq's largest Sunni party, which once helped fight al-Qaida.

(AP Photo)

37

People mourn behind coffins of two victims who were the two of 13 people that were executed by insurgents, during a funeral in the village of al-Saadan near the town of Abu Ghraib on Baghdad's western outskirts, Iraq, on Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. Gunmen dressed in Iraqi army uniforms are reported to have abducted and killed 13 people whose bodies were found Monday with gunshot wounds to the head, including a local leader of Iraq's largest Sunni party, which once helped fight al-Qaida.

(AP Photo)

36

Title: An Iraqi woman hold up a poster during a protest

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Caption: An Iraqi woman hold up a poster during a protest in central Najaf, 150 kms south of Baghdad on November 14, 2009.

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Some 800 Iraqis from all over the southern provinces gathered in Najaf to call on Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki cancel the death sentences passed on their jailed relatives and to release them.

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AFP PHOTO / QASSEM ZEIN

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(Photo credit should read QASSEM ZEIN/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 14 Nov 2009

35

Title: An Iraqi boy holds up a banner that reads “Free My Father”

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Caption: An Iraqi boy holds up a banner that reads in Arabic, 'Free My Father' during a protest in central Najaf, 150 kms south of Baghdad on November 14, 2009.

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Some 800 Iraqis from all over the southern provinces gathered in Najaf to call on Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to cancel the death sentences passed on their jailed relatives and to release them.

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AFP PHOTO / QASSEM ZEIN

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(Photo credit should read QASSEM ZEIN/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 14 Nov 2009

34

People hold pictures and signs as they demand the release of detainees during a protest in the city of Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, November 14, 2009. About 600 people gathered from different cities to protest in Najaf on Saturday.

REUTERS/Ali Abu Shish (IRAQ CONFLICT POLITICS)

33

People hold pictures and signs as they demand the release of detainees during a protest in the city of Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, November 14, 2009. About 600 people gathered from different cities to protest in Najaf on Saturday.

REUTERS/Ali Abu Shish (IRAQ CONFLICT POLITICS)

32

Toxic munitions 'may be cause' of baby deaths and deformities in Fallujah

Evidence was growing this weekend that babies born in the Iraqi city of Fallujah – scene in 2004 of one of the few set-piece battles of the invasion – are exhibiting high rates of mortality and birth defects.

In September this year, say campaigners, 170 children were born at Fallujah General Hospital, 24 per cent of whom died within seven days. Three-quarters of these exhibited deformities, including "children born with two heads, no heads, a single eye in their foreheads, or missing limbs". The comparable data for August 2002 – before the invasion – records 530 births, of whom six died and only one of whom was deformed.

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More than three years after a devastating bombing, the dome of the al-Askari mosque in Samarra is being rebuilt. The city itself is recovering from the war: Violence has faded and Iraqi security forces are in charge.

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(Ernesto Londono/The Washington Post)

30

The mosque's once-golden dome seen after the February 2006 bombing. The attack on the mosque, an important shrine for Shiites, touched off a war between Shiites and Sunnis that killed tens of thousands and deepened sectarian divisions in Iraq. (Khalid Mohammed/AP)

29

Baghdad, Iraq, 11 April 2003: A team of burial volunteers at Yamouk hospital. The hospital was forced to close and the patients were removed from the building. A small team stayed behind to bury the dead and try to prevent the hospital from being looted. This boy arrived injured from the fighting near the hospital

Photograph: Sean Smith

28

Alusefea, Baghdad, 27 March 2003: A house is damaged in the bombing of a small estate in the Alusefea area, just outside the suburbs of Baghdad. The man is a security guard for the estate. Most residents fled and ten people reportedly died in the attack, including a woman who lived here

Photograph: Sean Smith

27

The deformed feet of four-year-old Zahra Muhammad.

Photograph: Muhannad Fala'ah/Getty Images

26

Dr Aiman Qeis treats a sick child at Falluja General Hospital.

Photograph: Muhannad Fala'ah/Getty Images

25

An Iraqi policeman at a house damaged in the US battle for Falluja in 2004.

Photograph: Muhannad Fala'ah/Getty Images

24

A sick Iraqi child at Falluja General Hospital.

Photograph: Muhannad Fala'ah/Getty Images

23

Mariam Yasir, six, and her mother at the Iraqi Handicapped Organisation in Falluja, west of Baghdad..

Photograph: Muhannad Fala'ah/Getty Images

22

The father of Zahra Muhammad, four, points out the child's six-fingered hand. Doctors in Iraq’s third-largest city are dealing with up to a 15-fold rise in chronic deformities in infants

Photograph: Muhannad Fala'ah/Getty Images

21

A sick Iraqi child at Falluja general hospital. Doctors report a recent spike in numbers of children with early life cancers

Photograph: Muhannad Fala'ah/Getty Images

20

Title: The mother of Qazem Hamza grieves over his coffin

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Caption: The mother of Qazem Hamza grieves over his coffin as his body is collected from the morgue at the general hospital in the northeastern town of Baquba, 60 kms from Baghdad, on November 11, 2009.

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Hamza, a police officer, was killed 20 kms away from Baquba when a road side bomb detonated as he drove past.

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AFP PHOTO / STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 11 Nov 2009

19

Title: TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY MARWAN IBRAHIM—

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Caption: TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY MARWAN IBRAHIM—

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Iraqi school boys sit in their classroom during a lesson at a Turkish run school in the city of Kirkuk, 240 kms north of Baghdad on November 11, 2009. Local authorities have placed security outside schools following a spate of children kidnappings and demand of a ransom. Since September 10 cases of abduction have been brought to police attention, with many more believed to be unreported according to Iraqi General Torhan Yussef.

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AFP PHOTO/MARWAN IBRAHIM (Photo credit should read MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 11 Nov 2009

18

Title: Joe Stork, director of the Middle East and North Africa

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Caption: Joe Stork, director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch, listens on as Siham al-Hajj recounts how her husband and son were killed in the northern restive city of Mosul, druing a press conference by HRW on November 10, 2009, in the northern Iraqi-Kurdish city of Arbil. Minorities, including Christians, in northern Iraq are the collateral victims of a conflict between Arabs and Kurds over who controls the country's disputed provinces, Human Rights Watch warned.

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AFP PHOTO/SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 11 Nov 2009

17

Title: A relative kisses the forehead of an Iraqi man freed

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Caption: A relative kisses the forehead of an Iraqi man freed from an US jail on November 12, 2009 in the northern city of Kirkuk, 240kms from Baghdad.

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Nine prisoners were released by the US military and handed over to Iraqi forces.

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AFP PHOTO / MARWAN IBRAHIM (Photo credit should read MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 12 Nov 2009

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I think it is appalling that the US military still has Iraqi prisoners.

16

Iraqi security forces secure the scene of an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) explosion in downtown Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009. An IED missed unknown governmental vehicles, injuring at least two civilians, police said.

(AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

15

Iraqi security forces secure the scene of an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) explosion in downtown Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009. An IED missed unknown governmental vehicles, injuring at least two civilians, police said.

(AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

14

Iraqi Muslim women walk past a church in 2008 in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, some 370 kms north of the capital Baghdad.

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Gunmen killed a Christian teenager in a drive-by shooting outside his family home on Friday in the restive northern Iraqi city of Mosul, police said.

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(AFP/File/Ali al-Saadi)

13

Baghdad, Iraq, 11 April 2003: A team of burial volunteers at Yamouk hospital. The hospital was forced to close and the patients were removed from the building. A small team stayed behind to bury the dead and try to prevent the hospital from being looted. This boy arrived injured from the fighting near the hospital

Photograph: Sean Smith

12

Baghdad, Iraq, 31 March 2003: Smoke billows as one of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's palaces is hit

Photograph: Sean Smith

11

Alusefea, Baghdad, 27 March 2003: A house is damaged in the bombing of a small estate in the Alusefea area, just outside the suburbs of Baghdad. The man is a security guard for the estate. Most residents fled and ten people reportedly died in the attack, including a woman who lived here

Photograph: Sean Smith

10

Baghdad, Iraq, 15 March 2003: A woman protests with a gun against the threat of war

Photograph: Sean Smith

From The Guardian UK website

9

Baghdad: Iraqi journalists take part in a protest for the freedom of speech. Photograph: Muhannad Fala'ah/Getty Images

From The Guardian UK website

8

Two men use an Iraqi flag to cover the coffin of Hadi laaybi Hamad, head of Sadrist Tribal Council, during his funeral in the city of Kirkuk, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. Hamad was shot dead Sunday by insurgents at Al-Osra Wa al-Mafqodeen neighborhood southern part of Kirkuk city, by unknown assailants using silencer pistols, the police said.

(AP Photo/Emad Matti)

7

Christian Iraqi women grieve over the coffin of a relative prior to a funeral mass at the Chaldean Catholic Church in the northern city of Kirkuk, April 2009.

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Minorities, including Christians, in northern Iraq are the collateral victims of a conflict between Arabs and Kurds over who controls the country's disputed provinces, Human Rights Watch warned.

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(AFP/File/Marwan Ibrahim)

6

Family members grieve prior to the funeral of Christian Iraqi Aziz Ruzqu Maysan, in the northern city of Kirkuk, July 2009. Minorities, including Christians, in northern Iraq are the collateral victims of a conflict between Arabs and Kurds over who controls the country's disputed provinces, Human Rights Watch warned.

(AFP/File/Marwan Ibrahim)

5

People inspect a damaged car after a bomb attached to the car exploded at Raheem Awah area northern part of Kirkuk city, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009, wounding one civilian, the police said.

(AP Photo/Emad Matti)

4

An Iraqi woman looks inside a blood-splattered car where two women were allegedly shot dead by private security guards in central Baghdad. Executives at US private security firm Blackwater approved secret payments of about one million dollars to Iraqi officials to "silence their criticism" after company guards killed 17 civilians in the Iraqi capital in 2007, the New York Times has said.

(AFP/File/Ali Yussef)

3

A woman stands next to her relative, who was wounded in a shooting attack by Blackwater security guards, in a hospital in Baghdad, September 20, 2007.

REUTERS/Ceerwan Aziz

2

Title: The coffin of a local chief in the al-Sadr movement

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Caption: The coffin of a local chief in the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's movement Hadi al-Zehebawi who was fatally shot last night, is held high during his funeral in the northern city of Kirkuk, 240kms from Baghdad, on November 09, 2009. Zehebawi was shot and fatally wounded in a shop in the Al-Asra wal Mafqoudin district of the city, a health official said.

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AFP PHOTO / MARWAN IBRAHIM (Photo credit should read MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 09 Nov 2009

1

Title: Family members grieve as they carry the coffin of a local chief

Caption: Family members grieve as they carry the flag draped coffin of a local chief in the radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's movement Hadi al-Zehebawi who was fatally shot last night, during his funeral in the northern city of Kirkuk, 240kms from Baghdad, on November 09, 2009. Zehebawi was shot and fatally wounded in a shop in the Al-Asra wal Mafqoudin district of the city, a health official said.

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AFP PHOTO / MARWAN IBRAHIM (Photo credit should read MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP/Getty Images)

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Date created: 09 Nov 2009

November 09, 2009

Fifty

Two men use an Iraqi flag to cover the coffin of Hadi laaybi Hamad, head of Sadrist Tribal Council, during his funeral in the city of Kirkuk, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. Hamad was shot dead Sunday by insurgents at Al-Osra Wa al-Mafqodeen neighborhood southern part of Kirkuk city, by unknown assailants using silencer pistols, the police said.

(AP Photo/Emad Matti)

Forty Nine

Family members carry the flag draped coffin of Hadi laaybi Hamad, head of Sadrist Tribal Council, during his funeral in the city of Kirkuk, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. Hamad was shot dead Sunday by unidentified insurgents using silencer pistols at Al-Osra Wa al-Mafqodeen neighborhood southern part of Kirkuk city, the police said.

(AP Photo/Emad Matti)

Forty Eight

Iraqi's Mousa and al-Mutari arrive at London High Court hearing into deaths of Iraqi civilians allegedly at the hands of British soldiers. Iraqi Daoud Mousa (L) holds photographs of his grandchildren, that he now has to look after, as he arrives at the High Court in London, with compatriot Kifah Taha al-Mutari (R), July 29, 2004. Mousa, whose son Baha died whilst being detained by the British Army, is from one of six Iraqi families involved in the test case over the deaths of Iraqi civilians allegedly at the hands of British soldiers.

REUTERS/Toby Melville

Forty Seven