Millions of Shiite pilgrims flock to battered Baghdad shrine

Jul 18, 2009, 9:45 GMT

Baghdad - Millions of pilgrims poured across the Imam's Bridge in Baghdad on Saturday, on their way to a Shiite shrine that has been the target of some of the bloodiest attacks in Iraq this year.

That the bridge was open was a sign of Iraqi security forces' confidence as they faced the biggest challenge to their ability to keep order since US forces withdrew from Iraqi cities and towns on June 30.

The Imam's Bridge across the Tigris had been closed since rumours of a suicide bomber in the pilgrims' midst caused a stampede on the bridge that left more than 1,000 people dead during the August 2005 pilgrimage. Mortar fire had killed seven pilgrims earlier that day.

Police said this year they expected as many as 4 million people to march toward the shrine and burial site of Mussa al-Kadhim, revered by most Shiites as the seventh successor to the Prophet Mohammed.

'We hope that the ceremony ends peacefully so that we can take a rest,' Mahdi al-Araji, a 33-year-old Iraqi soldier stationed at a checkpoint on their route, told the German Press Agency dpa.

'We have been in a state of high alert for days now,' he said wearily.

'The success of our work is linked to our visitors' adherence to the instructions and regulations,' he added. 'But they have absolute freedom in the practice of rituals. We have so many people this year, but we have not seen any breach of security.'

'The heavy presence of the security forces gave us more confidence and enthusiasm to come on this visit feeling safe,' said Zainab Abdel-Hassan, a 27-year-old civil servant.

'This is an achievement by the government in its first practical test after the withdrawal of US forces,' Abdel-Hassan added.

Iraqis bedecked homes and public buildings with black banners on to mark the pilgrimage on Saturday.

Bombers have repeatedly targeted the shrine and the mosque. On April 24, two suicide bombers killed at least 66 people and wounded 125 others when they detonated bombs strapped to their body in the midst of a crowd of women and children on their way to the mosque.

Only two weeks earlier, two bombs killed a total of 15 people and wounded 31 others in back-to-back attacks on April 7 and April 8.

Iraqi security forces imposed a ban on vehicular traffic along the pilgrims' route until Sunday in an effort to guard against car bombings.

Saddam Hussein banned Iraq's Shiite majority from such public displays of their faith as pilgrimages. Since his fall in 2003, Iraqi Shiites have flocked to pilgrimage sites with renewed zeal.