Shiites Observe Holy Day Amid Heavy Security

Millions of people gathered under heavy security in the holy city of Karbala on Monday, marking a major Shiite religious holiday without the serious violence that has marred past rites.

Attacks continued, however, on pilgrims departing from Karbala. Explosives tore through a minibus returning to Baghdad when it was south of the capital, killing four.

Five other pilgrims en route to Karbala survived a drive-by shooting in Iskandariya, south of Baghdad, unscathed, the Associated Press reported.

Scores of pilgrims have been killed in previous days as they converged on the shrine to the prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Imam Hussein, in one of Shiite Islam’s holiest cities.

At least ten officers were killed in a shootout with insurgents this morning in Muqdadiya, northeast of Baghdad. After the officers ran out of ammunition, the gunmen stormed the building and killed them. The insurgents then burned down a nearby courthouse and released all the detainees inside.

In separate attacks elsewhere, a suicide bomber, roadside explosives and a gunfight killed at least 17 people, including at least four policemen.

The bodies of at least 10 execution victims, some of them showing signs of torture, were found throughout Baghdad, officials said.

The first bombing hit a special police command post near a highway bridge in the mainly Shiite Baghdad neighborhood of Karada. The blast killed two civilians and two officers. The explosion also injured one officer and two detainees, according to hospital officials.

Gunmen opened fire on U.S. and Iraqi troops in the middle-class Sunni neighborhood of Amariya on the west side of the capital. One Iraqi policeman was killed and three others wounded in the ensuing shootout, Iraqi officials said. Another bombing, near a restaurant in the southeastern part of the city, killed four people and injured 10.

North of Baghdad in Waziriya, a plastic bag of explosives left in a cafe exploded, killing three patrons and injuring 22 others. Further north, a suicide bomber rammed his car into a police checkpoint near Baqubah, killing one officer and injuring two others, police said.

The bodies of four men, showing signs of torture, were found in a sewage ditch in Baghdad’s Abu Disheer neighborhood. Authorities found six other corpses around the capital.

A roadside bomb killed at least four people on Riyadh Road north of Baghdad near Kirkuk. Attackers also threw a hand grenade at local police, but no injuries were reported.

Authorities had feared a direct attack on Karbala during the pilgrimage after February’s bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra, an attack blamed by U.S. and Iraqi officials on followers of militant Abu Musab Zarqawi.

Tensions were high as millions of Shiites, some traveling hundreds of miles, arrived at the Hussein shrine. In the last few days, roadside bombs and gunmen have killed scores of pilgrims.

During the holiday in 2004, insurgents killed 171 people in coordinated bombings at Shiite shrines in Karbala and Baghdad. About 50 people were killed last year.

This year, Iraqi soldiers and police erected multiple checkpoints along the roads. Shiite militiamen loyal to firebrand cleric Muqtada Sadr, dressed in civilian clothes but wearing badges issued by the Sadr political offices, also guarded the worshipers.

U.S. forces provided air support and Iraqi troops were brought in from neighboring provinces, according to a statement from the U.S. military.

Baghdad International Airport was closed Monday and was expected to remain closed today as a precaution against attacks, officials said.

Monday’s holiday was the culmination of 40 days of grieving and memorials for the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, who was killed in the 7th century on the plains near Karbala by Caliph Yazid in a succession battle that split Muslims into the Sunni and Shiite sects.

The celebration known as Arbayeen was outlawed under former President Saddam Hussein, who dispatched his Republican Guard to prevent pilgrims from reaching Karbala. Devoted Shiites would sneak into the city by back roads and rural paths.

“I feel much better now, three years after the war,” said Adel Kasib, a 40-year-old employee of the Ministry of Transportation who was returning for the fifth time. “It feels safer going to Karbala.”

At a time of increased sectarian violence, however, some worshippers were edgy and, in at least one instance, aggressive.

Jalal Karim Maqsosi, who was walking from Baghdad, said he saw other pilgrims savagely beat a well-dressed young man whom police allegedly had found wearing a suicide belt. After police defused the explosives, nearby pilgrims grabbed the man and began hitting him, one of them using a police helmet to inflict blows, Maqsosi said. Officers had to pull the suspect away from the crowd, he added.

The 23-year-old from the vast Shiite slum of Sadr City said it took him two days to walk from the capital to Karbala, a distance of about 50 miles. It was his fourth walk to the holy city, he said. Twice during Hussein’s reign, Maqsosi said, security forces prevented him from entering Karbala. Now, he said, “we have another problem, which is the terrorist acts. But this will never stop us.”

Another pilgrim, Mohssen Saiygh, a 52-year-old from Diwaniya, said he had never missed the pilgrimage, although it was cut short once when his son was hospitalized with burns. That year, he traveled to Karbala by car, returning to his son the same day.

“So you can imagine how important this occasion is,” he said by phone from Karbala.

Pilgrims wore black dishdasha robes as well as green ribbons around their heads. Many displayed green and black banners. Along the roads villagers had erected tents, offering shelter as well as traditional holiday foods of minced meat and peas.

In a written statement, Abdelaziz Hakim, leader of the main Shiite political party, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, urged Iraqis to be committed to marking the holiday.

“It is our identity, a symbol of dignity, [signaling] our strength in defending Islam and its great values and justice,” the statement said.

Maqsosi said the Shiites faced up to insurgents by taking part in the pilgrimage.

“While we were walking we were defying them,” he said, adding that he would go no matter the circumstances. “Even if there [are] a million Zarqawis.”

Times staff writer Raheem Salman and special correspondent Asmaa Waguih contributed to this report. Times wire services were used in compiling it.