A Shiite Muslim sheikh welcomes pilgrims

A Shiite Muslim sheikh welcomes pilgrims as they arrive at the shrine Hassen al-Askari, Shiite Islam's 11th Imam, in the northern mainly Sunni Muslim city of Samarra, some 120 kms from Baghdad on March 6 2009. As many as one million pilgrims prayed in the Iraqi holy city of Samarra on Friday in a show of force called by radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, reports said. Tens of thousands of people died in violence sparked by the destruction three years ago by alleged al-Qaeda Sunni extremists of the dome of the revered Al-Askari mosque, built in 944. The golden dome was added in 1905. AFP PHOTO / Mahmud Saleh (Photo credit should read Mahmud Saleh/AFP via Getty Images)