Happy not to make a living off the dead - Their profits may be down, but Iraqis who made coffins, or rented out mourning tents, welcome the calm.

At the height of the sectarian violence that racked Baghdad this year, the six sets of equipment that Abbas owned -- including hundreds of blue and gray striped tents, stackable plastic chairs, and metal folding tables -- were constantly out on hire.

His equipment was in such demand for traditional Muslim mourning ceremonies that Abbas often had to borrow additional supplies from other stores.

Charging up to $200 per set for a typical three-day rental, the shopkeeper was able to turn a pretty profit.

During the darkest days of Baghdad's violence, death became a lucrative industry for many business owners like Abbas.

Today, that trend appears to be changing.

"The atmosphere in the city before was only sadness clothed in blood, and mourning ceremonies," said Abbas, whose store is located in Baghdad's Shiite Muslim-dominated Sadr City neighborhood. "Now we have wedding parties."

As Abbas spoke, a wedding convoy passed with car horns tooting, cheers and laughter.

Overall attacks have dropped sharply in Baghdad in recent months after an increase in U.S. troops from February. Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr's cease-fire, and local citizens' groups that are partnering with U.S. forces to fight off insurgents have also contributed to the relative calm.

Despite heralding the surge of U.S. soldiers as a success, commanders with the Multi-National Forces in Iraq caution that the militants have not been conquered, and that long-term stability remains the goal.

A recent spate of blasts, including a car bombing outside a crowded juice shop in a central Baghdad neighborhood that killed at least 14 people, underscores the tenuous nature of security in the capital.

"This is still an enemy with a determined purpose," Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, director of the communications division of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, recently told reporters in Baghdad. "And they are bent on nothing short of turning back the progress that's taken place."

Despite the latest attacks, overall the number has dropped by more than half since June, according to the U.S. military, and many Iraqis say the improved security is palpable.