"The tour convoy began at the Badr Organization’s headquarters in Baghdad. There, over a breakfast of bread dipped in tahini, fighters embraced visiting clerics and recounted missions to Syria to defend the shrine of Sayeda Zeinab, holy to Shiites." 1) Tahini is unedible by itself. No one ever eats tahini raw. 2) I asked friends in Iraq and they were as surprised as I am at this description of breakfast. Someone commented: they don't even use Tahini in Iraq. Having said that, I can't deny that Ms. Barnard may have seen a liquid food on her tour. I can't rule that out.
PS She must have seen Halava, or halawah which is referred to as rahash in Iraq.
