We Shiites faced torture, killing and exclusion from the real life of Iraq.
On billboards and in newspapers, the ads offered a dose of farce that didn't seem too farcical: cooking lessons by Greek Orthodox, building for sale for Druze, hairstyling by an Armenian Catholic, a fashion agency looking for "a beautiful Shiite face".
Bahrain, whose population of about 500,000 citizens and 200,000 expatriates, is two-thirds Shiite, faced sectarian strife bordering on civil war a decade ago.
Meanwhile, thousands of people from another beleaguered Iraqi minority — Shiite Turkmen — face destruction in the town of Amerli, near Kirkuk, under an ISIS siege.
Related: A Pardon From Saudi Arabia's King Might be the Last Hope for a Shiite Cleric Facing a Death Sentence.
In Iraq, Sunni Arabs Unite to Face Shiites Sunni Arab political leaders, sheiks and clerics in Iraq promised to join in a broad Sunni political alliance to compete with dominant Shiites in the next election, even as Sunnis across Baghdad, the capital, closed mosques to protest what they say have been abuses by Iraq's predominantly Shiite security forces.
Shiites and Kurds faced mass murder during Hussein's regime, and they are understandably concerned about giving a share of military power to Sunnis, especially those who served Hussein.
"The Shiite community continues to face religious discrimination in the Kingdom and arrests and detentions of Shiite dissidents continues unabated, despite Saudi government assertions that Shiite Muslims are not targeted because of their religion or belief," said Dwight Bashir, the director of research and policy at the U.S. government religious freedom commission.
Secular parties cannot campaign in closed Sunni or Shiite neighborhoods, and also face problems raising money.
TRIAL ON BRIBERY CHARGE Gen. Nomon Dakhil, the former leader of an elite counterterrorist unit and a crucial partner in combating the Shiite militias, is facing a bribery charge.
In operations in Basra, Amara and the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad, the Iraqi troops faced Shiite militias, and all three operations essentially ended in truces that allowed militia fighters to melt away.
