Iraqi Shi'ite Pilgrims Throng Kerbala's Streets

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, April 23, 2003

Iraqi Shi'ite Pilgrims Throng Kerbala's Streets

Most of them have travelled throughout the country for the pilgrimage, and called for an Islamic state in Iraq while denouncing the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq.

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Most of them have travelled throughout the country for the pilgrimage, and called for an Islamic state in Iraq while denouncing the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq.

Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite Muslims have gathered in the holy city of Karbala for the climax of a pilgrimage that had been banned by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Most of them have travelled throughout the country for the pilgrimage, and called for an Islamic state in Iraq while denouncing the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq.

The anti-American chants in Kerbala contrasted with the warm reception given by Kurds in northern Iraq to retired General Jay Garner, the U.S. civilian administrator charged with rebuilding Iraq.

Garner continued his trip in the north on Wednesday after talking of fostering a "mosaic" federal democracy in Iraq.

The trip to the north was part of a four-day assessment by Garner of the damage caused by the war, which led to thousands of casualties, devastated several Iraqi cities and left many communities without power, water and other essential services.

US Central Command also announced they had found 600 million US dollars behind a false wall in a Baghdad house, and experts are now trying to determine whether the cash is real.

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks said the money was found by soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division while stopping looting.

He said investigators were also trying to determine what the money was intended for, where it came from and who had hidden it.

At the United Nations, France proposed the immediate suspension of non-military UN sanctions against Iraq and an adjustment of the UN program that uses oil revenues to pay for humanitarian aid to suit current needs.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte says the United States will work with France on how to achieve the lifting of sanctions.

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