Security Tight for Karbala Pilgrims

Tens of thousands of Shiite Muslim pilgrims headed to a shrine city south of the capital Friday amid heavy security as the daily toll of casualties mounted in a sectarian war without respite.

No major attacks were reported against the multitudes destined for Karbala, where today they celebrate the birthday of a revered imam who disappeared a millennium ago.

But even on a relatively quiet day in the capital, authorities reported finding 14 unidentified bodies in various neighborhoods, all handcuffed, blindfolded and killed execution-style -- most of them shot in the head -- now a trademark of the internecine conflict.

In largely Shiite east Baghdad, a roadside bomb targeting police killed three civilians and wounded three officers. Mortar blasts killed two civilians in a Shiite district of south Baghdad, and gunmen killed at least three in other incidents, authorities reported.

The traditionally mixed capital -- with its Shiites, Sunnis, Christians and others -- has become the prime killing ground of the sectarian conflict, which authorities say leaves as many as 100 Iraqis dead each day. Tens of thousands reportedly have fled to neighborhoods where their sects predominate and militias provide some measure of safety.

Despite the presence in Iraq of about 145,000 U.S. troops, the highest figure in months, the Shiite-led government has struggled to maintain order amid daily carnage.

Thousands of Iraqi police officers, soldiers and volunteers sealed off Karbala, about 50 miles south of Baghdad, to try to prevent a repeat of previous attacks on masses of Shiite pilgrims, whose boisterous marches are often viewed as a provocation by the rival Sunni Arab community. Vehicles, cellphones and weapons were banned from the city, and everyone was subject to search.

News agencies reported mortar rounds aimed at Karbala-bound pilgrims killed at least three of them in Musayyib, about 35 miles south of Baghdad. But provincial authorities said the dead were local residents hit by mortar blasts targeting a police station in a violent mixed-population area.

More than 1 million pilgrims are expected, honoring a messianic figure known as the Mahdi who, it is believed, will return someday to save the faithful.

Karbala, with its two magnificent gold-domed shrines, is one of the jewels of the Shiite world. It has been the site of numerous attacks on pilgrims, including suicide bombings in spring 2004 that killed 130 worshipers and injured hundreds.

On Friday, the Muslim holy day, Shiite preachers nationwide urged the faithful to endorse federalism, a combustible concept under which Shiite-dominated southern provinces would merge into an autonomous region.

“Such a federal system exists in many nations, but when the Shiite talk about federalism, they are accused of dividing Iraq,” leading cleric Sadruddin Qubanchi told worshipers in the southern city of Najaf. “There is no such danger.”

In nearby Karbala, Reuters reported, Abdelaziz Hakim, a leading Shiite cleric and political figure, lauded the plan as crowds of pilgrims chanted, “Yes, yes to federalism!”

The autonomy debate has badly exacerbated sectarian tensions. Many Sunnis view the plan as a scheme to deprive their long-dominant sect of resources while the Shiite south and Kurdish north pocket petroleum revenue from vast deposits in their zones.

In parliament Thursday, a shouting match ensued as Sunni representatives accused the majority Shiites of trying to slice up the country into ethnic and sectarian fiefdoms. The debate is expected to resume next week.

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patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com

Times staff writer Saif Hameed and special correspondents in Baghdad and Najaf contributed to this report.