Baghdad garden becomes graveyard, full of grieving

In the gardens of the living and the dead, the war goes on; not so much with enthusiasm as with resignation. It is just after dawn Friday, which is the first day of Id al-Adha, which Iraqis call "the Great Feast," celebrated by Muslims worldwide to coincide with the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. The dun-colored alleyways of the Adhamiya neighborhood here are deserted at this hour, everywhere except in the memorial garden behind the Abu Hanifa mosque, which is the most hallowed place of worship for Iraqi Sunnis. Thousands of mourners throng the headstones in what only three years ago was a community garden on the banks of the Tigris River. This is a relatively new tradition in Iraq, paying respects to the dead between morning prayers and the feast held later in the day. On this one day, the garden of the dead overflows with the living.