2007年VOA标准英语-At Least 51 Killed in Violence at Religious Fes

Female pilgrims walk past Iraqi security forces, 27 Aug 2007

Police in Iraq's holy city of Karbala have ordered Shi'ite pilgrims to leave the city after two days of violence surrounding a major religious festival left dozens of people dead and injured. Reporter Cache Seel has details from our Middle East bureau in Cairo.

Gun battles raged and emergency vehicles sped through the streets of Karbala near the Shi'ite shrines¹ at the center of celebrations marking the ninth-century birthday of the last Shi'ite imam. The festival was to have reached its climax² late Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

It was not immediately clear what caused the fighting, some blamed scuffles caused by stringent³ security measures, others said Shi'ite militias⁴ were to blame.

Shi'ite religious processions have often been marred⁵ by violence, usually by Sunni extremists who believe the Shia to be apostates⁶.

The worst such incident was in 2005 when nearly 1,000 pilgrims were killed in a stampede caused by rumors⁷ of a suicide bomber⁸ on a Baghdad bridge. In Karbala, nearly 100 people were killed this past April in car bombings aimed at Shi'ite shrines. 

Waleed Kazziha, the director of the department of political science at the American University in Cairo, says that in addition to threats from Sunni extremists, friction⁹ between the two largest Shi'ite militias added to the already volatile¹⁰ situation in Karbala.

"I think this was inevitable¹¹ that something of this magnitude, this festival of that magnitude that it would not be utilized¹² or exploited by each of these parties to its own advantage and ultimately ends up in a rupture," he said.

Pilgrims lay in a hospital after being injured in clashes in Shiite holy city of Karbala, 28 Aug 2007

The violence began Monday when pilgrims, frustrated¹³ by standing¹⁴ in long lines at security checkpoints, began pelting¹⁵ police with rocks. It dramatically escalated¹⁶ Tuesday with reports of gun battles and mortar¹⁷ attacks.

Iraqi officials have provided buses to evacuate¹⁸ pilgrims. More troops and police are being sent to attempt to restore peace.

In other news from Iraq, the U.S. military says Iraqi and coalition¹⁹ forces killed 33 insurgents²⁰ in a joint²¹ operation Monday north of Baghdad. A military statement says the operation reopened a major irrigation canal that had been seized by gunmen.

Iraq's political factions²² have made fresh attempts to restore peace on the national level. Sunday, representatives from Iraq's three main factions - Shi'ite, Sunni, and Kurd - reached a power-sharing agreement. Details of the agreement have not been made public, except a clause allowing Baath party loyalists from Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime to return to working for the government.

Members of the joint Iraqi security forces block a road  after unidentified gunmen open fire to threat pilgrims in southwestern Baghdad, 27 Aug 2007

Alex Bigham, an Iraq analyst²⁴ with London-based Foreign Policy Center, says the agreement is a positive step, but not enough on its own to satisfy Iraq's Sunni minority.

"That is welcome. That was the key request of some of the Sunni parties in order to become more involved in Iraqi politics," said Bigham. "Of course, many of the Sunni groups rejected the constitutional referendums and did not participate in the elections, so that is certainly welcome, but there are a number of other criteria²⁵ that have to be met."

But the negotiations²⁶ did not include Iraq's largest Sunni bloc²³, the Sunni Accordance Front that has boycotted²⁷ the government since early August. The group praised the initiative, but said it will not return until reforms are implemented²⁸.