Sectarian animosities have been agitated by tribal and religious differences playing out against several factors: upcoming provincial elections, Iranian-funded militias and the slow pace of the Shiite-led government absorbing as many as 100,000 former Sunni fighters into the army, police and other civil service jobs.
On Wednesday, the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki took command in Baghdad of 54,000 Sunni fighters, known as the Sons of Iraq. It is unclear how smoothly they will be incorporated; the fighters and the government, which battled for years, remain mistrustful of one another.
The blasts at the mosques were more of a threat to Mohammed Abbas, a vegetable seller. He was congratulating fellow worshipers on the Eid in New Baghdad when the suicide bomber exploded near the entrance of the Rasoul mosque.
