Mehdi army provide Baghdad security
Updated on 18 July 2009
Despite a bomb blast which left five people dead last week, the Baghdad neighbourhood of Sadr city has been transformed.
American troops pulled out of Iraq's urban areas at the end of June, handing control of security to Iraqi forces.
But in Sadr city, it is the once feared Shia militia known as the Mehdi army which is keeping calm on the streets - and it is now providing help and welfare to the local community.
