Free Republic

Sun Apr 11,11:54 AM ET A Pakistani Shi'ite mourner flagellates himself during a religious procession in Rawalpindi April 11, 2004. Security was tightened on Sunday amid fears of attack as Shi'ite Muslims marks their annual religious mourning of Arbain. Arbain, marks the end of a 40-day period of mourning for the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein who died more than 1300 years ago. REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood

KERBALA - Tens of thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims headed home on Sunday after a subdued religious festival overshadowed by a rally in support of a radical Shi'ite cleric and fears of Sunni militant attacks. Few pilgrims voiced support for Sadr and his uprising -- the young cleric draws more support from poor, angry youths in the Baghdad slums than among the traditionalists in Kerbala. Around midday on Sunday, as many pilgrims were leaving, about 150 people rallied in support of Sadr. "We are supporting Moqtada because he challenged the Americans, the Zionists, and exposed the hypocrite Ayatollahs," said one, Morad...

KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims headed home on Sunday after a subdued religious festival overshadowed by a rally in support of a radical Shi'ite cleric and fears of Sunni militant attacks. Several hundred thousand pilgrims from Iraq (news - web sites) and Iran had thronged the street of Kerbala for Arbain, a ceremony that falls 40 days after the Shi'ite holy day of Ashura -- when suicide bomb attacks on Shi'ites in Baghdad and Kerbala killed 171. Amid fears of repeated bloodshed, the atmosphere in Kerbala was tense, more so after a week of fierce...

Five Iranian bassijis and three Iraqis were killed when foreign troops fired on their vehicle near a checkpoint near the Shi'ite town of Kerbala, police and hospital officials said on Wednesday. Police said the incident happened late on Tuesday when the vehicle in which the victims were travelling ran a checkpoint in Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) south of Baghdad. Fighting has raged since Sunday in Shi'ite areas of Iraq between foreign troops and militiamen loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Thousands of Iranians are in Iraq ahead of the Shi'ite Muslim holy day of Arbain this month when...