IRAQ, Baghdad. January 26, 2007.
Children play on a pile of rubble at a building on Al Rasheed street, home to Shia and Sunni families. Al Rasheed, situated in the centre of Baghdad, is progressively transforming into a Shia enclave after the Mehdi army (Moqtada Sadr's Shia militia) forced Sunnis to flee by intimidation or killings. Meanwhile, Shia families quickly moved into these abandoned homes. Local children are trained by the Mehdi army to man checkpoints at the entrance to these neighbourhoods. January 26 2007