THE OCCUPATION ONLY RETARDED DEBAATHIFICATION...:

The only sign that Sunni-majority Mosul's newest and busiest marketplace is in Shi'ite Muslim hands is a small plaque in the office of its leaseholder from Baghdad.

"The Imam Hussein Market," it reads, dedicated to the Prophet Mohammed's grandson and most revered Shi'ite imam.

Banners of Shi'ite leaders that militiamen erected after helping drive out the Sunni extremists of Islamic State two years ago have been removed amid fears of renewed sectarian tension.

Iraq's second city, once a recruitment center for Sunni officers in Saddam Hussein's army, became an al Qaeda hotbed after the 2003 U.S. invasion that toppled the dictator, and later the base from where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate in 2014.

Iranian-backed Shi'ite paramilitary groups that played a crucial role in driving out IS have since become dominant in the city, if less visibly than before.

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