Iraq Photos: Feb. 13- Feb. 29

Iraqi Shiite Muslims beat themselves with iron chains near the Imam Hussein holy shrine in Karbala, Iraq, Sunday, Feb. 29, 2004. Shiite Muslims are arriving from around the world to the Shiite holy city of Karbala to mark the first Ashura feast since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. Ashura commemorates the death of the Shiite saint Imam Hussein.

Iraqi boys walk past a U.S. tank while beating their backs with chains to mark Ashoura, the 10-day mourning of the death of one of their most important saints, Imam Hussein, Sunday Feb. 29, 2004, in Khadimiya, north of Baghdad, Iraq.

A U.S. soldier watches a group of Turkomen protesters who gathered outside the Iraqi Governing Council office for the third day Saturday, Feb. 28, 2004, in Baghdad, Iraq, to demand the Turkomen minority be considered for the council's drafting of the new Iraqi constitution.

An Iraqi fireman trains his hose at the burning oil pipeline in Samarra, 62 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq, following an explosion Saturday, Feb. 28, 2004, the second time an oil facility near Samarra was damaged. Since the U.S. ouster of Saddam Hussein, attackers have fired mortars, sprayed bullets and planted explosives that have damaged pipelines and other oil facilities in Iraq.

The sun sets in front of the tombs of the Imam Hussein holy shrine in Karbala, Iraq, Friday Feb. 27, 2004.

An Iraqi guards the Sunni Mosque in Fallujah as hundreds gather below for a protest after the Friday prayers in the volatile town of Fallujah, northwest of Baghdad, Iraq , on Friday, Feb. 27, 2004.

A U.S. military vehicle passes by the flames and smoke of a burning oil pipeline near the Iraq town of Samarra Thursday, Feb. 26, 2004. According to Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, attackers threw a homemade bomb into the complex of oil and gas pipes along the road, igniting the pipeline.

Iraqi police and soldiers investigate the scene of an explosion in the Iraqi town of Baquoba Thursday, Feb. 26, 2004. A bomb planted in a police vehicle, parked outside a restaurant, killed an Iraqi police officer and wounded eight other people after the explosive was apparently slipped into the vehicle.

Iraqi police and soldiers investigate the scene of an explosion in the Iraqi town of Baquoba Thursday, Feb. 26, 2004. A bomb planted in a police vehicle that was parked outside a restaurant killed an Iraqi police officer and wounded eight other people after the explosive was apparently slipped into the vehicle.

Turkomen protesters, one wrapped in barbed wire, demonstrate in Baghdad, calling for guarantees of Turkomen rights in the future Iraq, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2004. The poster reads "No man but Ali, and no sword but Ali's sword." About 4,000 people demonstrated to demand guarantees of Turkomen rights as politicians struggle to work out an interim constitution that will address federalism and Kurdish demands.

A U.S. helicopter searches the area along the Euphrates River near the Iraqi town of Haditha during a search operation for an OH-58 Kiowa helicopter that crashed into the river Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2004, killing two crew members. With the latest crash, the U.S. military has lost 15 helicopters, most to hostile fire, since the occupation began in May, with a total of 62 Americans killed in the crashes.

An unidentified soldier from the U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division practices target shooting at Udeira Range, 62 miles north of Kuwait City, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2004.

Iraqi Shiites, beating themselves with chains during a ceremony of the holy day of Ashura in Samawa, 230 miles southeast of Baghdad, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2004. Japanese troops are in the southern Iraq city of Samawa on humanitarian missions focusing on reconstruction of the area's battered infrastructure.

U.S. Army helicopter door gunner Spc. James Horst, age 22, of Garner, N.C., looks out the open door of an airborne Blackhawk helicopter, northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2004.

A U.S. soldier oversees Iraqi police cadets during handgun firing range practice at the main police academy in Baghdad on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2004. More than 300 people, mostly Iraqis, have been killed in suicide bombings against Iraqi security forces this year.

A lone armored vehicle of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces heads back to its temporary camp at the Dutch military base in Samawa at sunset Monday, Feb. 23, 2004, southeast of Baghdad, Iraq. The Japanese forces continue to move their equipment to their new base, also in Samawa, as they await their fellow troops who are now in Kuwait and are expected to cross the border within the week.

An Iraqi girl, Aween Aras, age 11, is kept company by relatives, inside a hospital as she recovers from wounds she suffered when a car bomb exploded near where she had been walking to school, in Kirkuk, northern Iraq, Monday, Feb. 23, 2004.

Police gather at a police station in Kirkuk, Iraq, where a suicide bomber detonated an explosive-packed vehicle Monday, Feb. 23, 2004, killing at least 10 people and wounding 45 others, police and hospital officials said.

The aftermath of bombing is seen outside a police station in Kirkuk, Iraq, Feb. 23, 2004. The attack was the latest in a string of vehicle and suicide bombings against Iraqi security forces and others seen as cooperating with the U.S.-led occupation.

Workers clear away debris from the front of a police station that was the site of a car bomb attack earlier in the day, in Kirkuk, northern Iraq, Monday, Feb. 23, 2004.