RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, COURTESY OF THE AMERICAN SOLDIER

Hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims walked, rode bikes and drove cars to this holy city on Sunday for religious rituals once banned by Saddam Hussein.

Men, women and children beat their chests and chanted prayers in unison in a ceremony marking Ashoura, the most important in the Shiite Muslim calendar. The 10-day festival commemorates the death of Shiite saint Imam Hussein, a grandson of the prophet Muhammad...

This is the first time in more than three decades that Iraq's Shiites have been free to publicly celebrate the holiday.