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Baghdad: Mona Al Hasnawi lives in Al Sadr City, eastern Baghdad, which was long considered a key stronghold of the now-dissolved militia led by Shiite leader Moqtada Al Sadr, the Mahdi Army.
Hard to believe though it may be, Mona, 36, knows for a fact that more women in her neighbourhood started donning the veil even as the militia's influence was on the decline.
"The Mahdi Army was particular about women wearing veils; and I and a dozens of girls from the Al Gwadar area, a suburb of Al Sadr city, began wearing the veil after receiving threatening letters from death squads. That was in January but more and more women have since started wearing it of their own accord," Mona told Gulf News.
In 2006, 2007 and at the start of this year, graffiti left by the Mahdi Army on the walls of neighbourhoods inhabited by the Shiite majority, threatened women with death if they didn't wear the veil.
Striking fear into people
The messages also warned that Al Qaida was mandated to deliver punishment to those not complying with the directive in Sunni majority areas, despite underlying ethnic hostility and differences.
Zainab Al Jouburi, a schoolteacher hailing from the predominantly Sunni Al Dawra neighbourhood, told Gulf News: "A few months ago, Al Qaida warned it would kill any woman seen in attire that didn't go by the set norm and hundreds of women started wearing veils with immediate effect. Even with Iraqi security forces regaining control, women who took to the veil fearing for their lives, including me, still adhere to the dress code."
Markets in Baghdad dealing exclusively in women's clothes such as Al Mansour, Al Karada and Al Musbah have seen many new shops spring up exclusively selling veils.
"Veils had sold briskly in the days when militia fighters roamed the area but over the past few months, we have been able to sell more veils than in the past. In fact, I have placed orders from Turkey for veils that give more choice by way of brighter colours and the quality of fabric," said Thamer Qalaji, a shop owner.
There is no doubt that the major parties within the Iraqi parliament, whether Shiite or Sunni, have conservative leanings.
Conservative Shiites who are more influenced by Al Sadr make up the ranks of the Supreme Islamic Council led by Abdul Aziz Al Hakim, the Al Fadila Party led by Hashim Al Hashimi, the Dawa Party led by Nouri Al Maliki, the Dawa Party-Iraq led by Abdul Karim Al Enzi and the national reform trend led by Ebrahim Al Jaafari.
Fear of conflict
Conservative Sunnis make up the Islamic Party led by Tareq Al Hashemi and the People of Iraq Conference led by Adnan Al Dulaimi in addition to the Islamic Party of Kurdistan led by Bahaa Eddin which allied with the main Kurdish parties.
Ala Al Jarrah, a strategic researcher, told Gulf News: "The coming years will witness another type of conflict - pitting Islamist-oriented Shiites and Sunnis on the one hand and secular factions on the other."
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