The neighborhood is also home for many of the prominent Shiite families in Damascus.

He comes from a traditional Shiite family of six brothers and five sisters, all working class - carpenters, drivers, auto parts dealers.

One wall away, in an apartment next door, a scared Shiite family huddled around a space heater, cradling an infant.

The Hakim clan is one of the largest Shiite families in Iraq.

The food donations were coming from Shiite families, in many cases from people with little to spare.

Luaibi was born into a Shiite family in Baghdad in 1959.

Until recently his was one of five Shiite families left living on Exchange Street, which forms the border.

He is from a conservative Shiite family.

Two thousand Shiite families have moved in.

The trunk had cases of unused sniper bullets and a notice to a Shiite family telling them to abandon their home.