Iraqi runner Zeina Arkan trains at the Baghdad University stadium , #Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. Iraq’s female athletes have returned to training after intimidation of Islamic extremists, who targeted female athletes and their male coaches during fierce fighting just a few years ago. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

A newly graduated Iraqi solider receives a kiss from his mother after the graduation ceremony in #Baghdad, #Iraq (AP)

رايحين لكربلا @AP Shiite pilgrims march on their way to Karbala for Arbaeen, in western #Baghdad, #Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012. The holiday marks the end of the forty day mourning period after the anniversary of the 7th century martyrdom of Imam Hussein the Prophet Mohammed.

مسيحي ينذر شمعة للعام الجديد بالبصرة :وطن حر وشعب سعيد يا عراقنا العظيم #Iraq A Christian devotee lights a candle before attending a mass at a church in Iraq’s southern province of Basra. January 1, 2012. REUTERS

مسنة عراقية ومصلون خلال قداس في بغداد عشية عيد الميلاد #Iraq #Baghdad #AP

عراقيات أثناء قداس في العاصمة العراقية بغداد عشية عيد الميلادChristians attend Christmas Eve mass in #Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011. (AP)

عراقيون يتجمعون بكنيسة اثورية عشية عيد الميلاد بقضاء الحمدانية، الموصلIraqi Christians gather around a fire as they celebrate Christmas Eve at a Syrian Catholic church in Hamdaniya town, east of Mosul (Reuters)

أطفال ونساء عراقيون إلى كنيسة سيدة النجاة بالكرادة في 31 أكتوبر2011. Iraqi Catholic Christian women and children arrive in Baghdad’s Our Lady of Salvation church for a memorial mass on October 31, on the first anniversary of an attack which killed 44 people. Iraq’s Christians are increasingly fearful in the face of a rise in sectarian tensions after the withdrawal of US troops and many are leaving the country. (AFP Photo/Sabah Arar)

#Iraq A girl holds balloons inside the Al-Zawraa Amusement Park in #Baghdad, December 2, 2011. REUTERS

#Iraq Children are silhouetted as they play in a park across from the Green Zone on the Tigris River in #Baghdad December 2, 2011. REUTERS

احتفالات العراقيين اليوم بالكرادة People with #Iraqi flags celebrate after the Iraqi national soccer team beat Jordan in their World Cup qualifying soccer match, in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011. Iraq won 3-1.(AP) و “صاعد صاعد صاعد.. على عناد كل حاقد” 

مسلمات وشموع في كنيسة كلدانية ببغداد Iraqi Muslim women light candles at the Virgin Mary Chaldean Church in central Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011. The Chaldean church is an Eastern Rite church affiliated with the Roman Catholic church. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed) عام على حادث كنيسة سيدة النجاة بالكرادة، بغداد

Children play at a park during Eid al-Adha in central Baghdad, #Iraq, Monday, Nov. 7, 2011 (AP)

Eid in #Iraq Children ride in a horse-drawn cart on the first day of the Muslim festival of Eid-al-Adha in #Baghdad November 6, 2011. REUTERS

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