Extremists target Shiite visitors set for holy gathering

Baghdad: Shiite visitors headed to a major religious gathering were again targeted by extremists yesterday when a roadside bomb detonated near a bus in Baghdad, killing one traveller, police said.

The blast came just days after a flurry of attacks on a massive ceremony to the holy city of Karbala, 80km south of Baghdad. Shiites from across Iraq and some foreign visitors are marking Arbaeen, the end of a 40-day mourning period following the anniversary of the death of Imam Hussain, one of Shiite Islam's most revered figures.

The US military blamed Sunni-led Al Qaida in Iraq for the earlier killings, which seemed aimed at provoking sectarian violence. With the latest fatality, at least 64 people have been slain in assaults targeting pilgrims.

Killings: 'Pinnacle of barbarism'

One of the most respected Shiite clerics called yesterday for action against a school of thought used by militants to justify killing other Muslims.

Lebanon's Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Hussain Fadlallah described an attack on Shiites in Iraq on Sunday as "the pinnacle of barbarism".

In unusually strong language, Fadlallah described the perpetrators as "murderous animals", who "regard as permissible [spilling] the blood of Muslims who embrace another doctrine, or believe in alternative political views".

Fadlallah is based in Lebanon and has Shiite followers across the Muslim world.

- Reuters