Iraq to greet new year in a hush, officials say

The government ordered hotels and private clubs in Baghdad to cancel their New Year's Eve celebrations, disappointing many Iraqis who had hoped they could celebrate the new year now that the streets are safer than they have been in years past. The parties were canceled because New Year's Eve coincides with Muharram, a mournful religious period for Shiites. The government, which is dominated by religious Shiite parties, issued the order on Sunday. Several hotels and private clubs in the capital, which have been hosting boisterous parties recently, given the improved security situation, said none would be held on Wednesday in compliance with government orders. "The orders of the Ministry of Interior have been enforced at clubs, party venues and family clubs," said Major General Ali al-Yasseri, a police commander in Baghdad. "These places will be closed in accordance with Iraqi law." He added, "We have no objection to those who want to have a dinner party without fanfare, noise, dancing and music." Two Interior Ministry officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for their safety, said that several police officers sympathetic to the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr had also been "politely" informing Baghdad liquor stores that recently reopened that they must close for the holiday. Many Iraqis, including Shiites, said the ban was unfair because this could be a momentous year for Iraq, with American soldiers beginning to pull out from urban areas. Last year there were several big parties and fireworks displays on New Year's Eve. Mahdi al-Khayat, a Baghdad-based singer from a Shiite family in the holy city of Najaf, said that while the observance of Muharram was important, the rules should have been relaxed this year to allow Iraqis to revel in the improved security situation. "The country has been in a miserable state over the past three to four years," he said. "It needs a jump-start with parties and optimism." The Islamic New Year, which follows a lunar calendar and shifts each year, started on Monday. The first month of the year is called Muharram. It is a joyous time for Sunnis but not for Shiites, for whom its start begins the 10-day countdown to Ashura, which marks the martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Imam Hussein, in A.D. 680 at the hands of Sunnis in the battle of Karbala, south of Baghdad. Shiites in Iraq mark this occasion with the erection of symbolic black funeral tents in their neighborhoods. The death of Imam Hussein is lamented with prayers, rituals of chest beating and self-flagellation with chains. The bloodiest attacks against Shiites in Iraq over the past several years have been during Muharram, prompting the government to mobilize considerable resources each year to protect the mourners. "Everyone is free, but I will not have parties and singing," said Dhia Namnam, a popular Baghdad D.J. and party promoter, who is Shiite. "If you want to have a party, do it at home. Most Muslims here are Shiites." Managers at popular party venues like the Sheraton and Babylon hotels on Abu Nuwas Street in central Baghdad and the Hunting Club in the upscale Mansour district said all plans for New Year's Eve festivities had been shelved. Khayat, the singer, said that he had been contracted to sing at a New Year's Eve party in Beirut, Lebanon, but that he would not be going because he could not get a visa in time. Indeed, most well-to-do Iraqis, including many Shiites, have already made plans to celebrate New Year's in Amman, Jordan; Damascus, Syria; or the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Ali Mohammed, a Shiite Kurd living in Baghdad, is headed to Sulaimaniya in Kurdistan for a party. In Kurdistan's capital, Erbil, the upscale Erbil International Hotel plans two New Year's parties with open bars, bands and dancing until dawn, according to the manager, Nabaz Ghafour.