Hundreds of thousands gather for mass prayer in Baghdad

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
Associated Press

BAGHDAD (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have held a mass prayer called for by an influential Shiite cleric in Baghdad, a highly symbolic move amid an unprecedented political crisis roiling Iraq. Powerful cleric Muqtada al-Sadr had called on his followers to pray inside the heavily fortified Green Zone of the Iraqi capital on Friday. They stood outside in the scorching summer-time heat to heed his call. Al-Sadr has demanded the dissolution of parliament and called for early elections. His party exited the political process after failing to corral enough lawmakers to usher in the next government despite winning the most seats in Iraq’s federal elections.