Iraq roadside blast kills 6 Shiite pilgrims

— A roadside bomb killed six Shiite Muslim pilgrims Friday during a procession, the latest violence targeting the sect during observances of a religious holiday, officials said.

The deaths followed heightened tensions in a northern Iraqi town after troops were deployed after a scuffle between Christians and Shiites over holiday decorations.

Observances of the 10-day Shiite festival of Ashoura, which ends Sunday, coincided Friday with Christian celebrations of Christmas.

The government has been trying to assure people that it can protect both Shiites and Christians during the two holidays. During Ashoura, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims converge on the holy city of Karbala.

In the days leading up to the event, large processions of men go through the streets of Shiite neighborhoods beating their chests and using chains to flay their backs in a show of grief over the seventh-century killing of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Imam Hussein.

The gatherings, practically banned under Saddam Hussein, have often been targeted by insurgents as a way to sow sectarian strife.

The bomb in the capital killed six pilgrims and injured 17, including a local-level politician, said a policeman in Sadr city in eastern Baghdad. A medic and another policeman confirmed the number of dead. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

In a northern Iraqi town, troops were deployed and a brief curfew was imposed after three guards at a Christian church were injured during a dispute between Shiites and Christians over competing religious decorations.

The confrontation in Bartela, 240 miles northwest of Baghdad, comes as many Christians in Iraq tamped down celebrations to avoid offending Shiites, who are making pilgrimages to the southern holy city of Karbala to commemorate the killing of Imam Hussein. His death sealed the split between Shiites and Sunnis.

A police off icial saidChristians in Bartela had pulled down black flags hung to mark Ashoura. The flags were flying near where a church was preparing for Christmas Mass. The police official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Three church guards were slightly injured in the melee, the police official said. A brief curfew was put in place after the incident.

The office of the provincial governor, Atheel al-Nujaifi, issued a statement saying he and police officials met with leaders of both groups shortly afterward. He blamed the clash on “outsiders who wanted to drive a wedge between Christians and Muslims.”

Sayyid Harith Al-Odari, an aide to the powerful anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, said in his Friday sermon, “We offer our thanksand appreciation to our Christian brothers for respecting Ashoura by shortening their celebrations on the occasion of Christ’s birth.”

The deaths and tension come a day after Shiite pilgrims were targeted in a handful of bombing attacks that left dozens dead. In the worst of those attacks, police on Friday raised the toll to 19 killed and 80 wounded in a double bombing in Hillah, 60 miles south of Baghdad.

In the northern city of Mosul, police found three bullet-riddled bodies of staff members working for the provincial census office, said local police and morgue officials.

Northwest of Mosul, near the border with Syria, a car bomb exploded near Kurdish Peshmerga forces, killing one and wounding 10 others, police said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Information for this article was contributed by Saad Abdul-Kadir of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 8 on 12/26/2009

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