Iraq's long-suppressed Shia majority is in the ascendancy.<br /><br />Thousands of pilgrims flocked to a Baghdad shrine this week in a vibrant expression of religious identity that would not have been tolerated under the ruler of former dictator Saddam Hussein.<br /><br />Iraq is also the first country in the Arab world to be ruled by Shias, with Shia parties now shaping the country's political landscape.<br /><br />But Shia nationalism is also playing a role in continued opposition to the presence of American troops in the country - with Moqtada al-Sadr, a key Shia leader, putting pressure on Iraqi leaders by threatening to re-activate his militia unless the US completes its withdrawal.<br /><br />Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh reports from Baghdad as part of our Iraq's Challenge series.
