Iraq's prime minister attended a mourning procession in Baghdad on Saturday for Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and the deputy chief of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, killed in a US airstrike the previous day.
Adel Abdel Mahdi joined Muhandis associate Hadi al-Ameri, cleric Ammar al-Hakim, former premier Nuri al-Maliki and other pro-Iran figures in a large crowd.
The coffins were first brought to Kadhimiya district, where thousands of mourners chanted "Death to America."
The crowds then accompanied them south to a point near the Green Zone. The dignitaries then accompanied the coffins into the zone for an official ceremony.
Soleimani, Iran’s Quds Force chief, was Tehran's most prominent military commander and the architect of its growing influence in the Middle East.
He and Muhandis were killed along with eight others in a precision drone strike early Friday as they drove away from Baghdad international airport in two vehicles.
Soleimani will be laid to rest Tuesday in his hometown of Kerman as part of three days of ceremonies across the country, the Revolutionary Guards said.
Soleimani's body was expected to arrive in Tehran on Saturday night before being taken to Mashhad the next day for a ceremony, a statement posted on the Guards website late Friday said.
A ceremony will next be held in Tehran on Monday morning, and then he will be buried in Kerman on Tuesday morning.
