Two al-Qaeda militants arrested in Iraqi city (Roundup)

Jan 15, 2010, 14:06 GMT

Baghdad - Two al-Qaeda militants were arrested Friday in Karbala, following a confession by a senior al-Qaeda member picked up in the city a day earlier, police said.

Khaled al-Khanfisi, wanted by police on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks in Iraq, was arrested Thursday at the entrance to the Shiite Muslim holy city after a tip from intelligence agencies.

The two militants were arrested after al-Khanfisi confessed they were planning to attack pilgrims attending a ceremony known as 'the Arbaine of the Imam Hussein,' police told the German Press Agency dpa.

'Arbaine,' or '40' in Arabic, marks the 40th day after the Shiite holy day of Ashura, that commemorates the death of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Mohammed's grandson, in the Battle of Karbala 1,329 years ago.

Millions of Shiites march to Karbala on the 'Arbaine', which takes place at the end of January.

Safeguarding pilgrims during major Shiite festivals remains a challenge for security forces. A December 24 bomb blast in Hilla killed at least 14 pilgrims and injured 70 more during the holiday of Ashura.

In Najaf, medics said Friday that the death toll of a series of explosions that hit the southern Iraqi city on Thursday reached 27 people killed and 111 injured.

Three homemade bomb blasts rocked Najaf, home to some of Shiite Islam's highest educational institutions and shrines, within minutes of each other on Thursday.

Two of the blasts targeted a market located in a street leading to Imam Ali shrine, an important Shiite Muslim shrine. The third was a car bomb that detonated when more people gathered in the scene.

On Thursday, police sources said that at least 14 people were killed and dozens injured in attacks that shattered weeks of relative calm.