1. Introduction

1.1 Baghdad, the capital and the seat of government and financial operations, is situated on the river Tigris in the center of Iraq. In 2003 it was estimated that its population exceeded five million inhabitants, 60 percent of whom are Shiʿi. The rest are mainly Sunni, with a Christian minority comprising Chaldean Catholics, Assyrians (Orthodox and Catholics), and a small number of Greek Catholics and Protestants. The numbe…