The attack on the final and most important day of the Arbain festival was the third major strike this week against Shiite pilgrims amid a political furor over the banning of candidates, many of them Sunnis, from a March 7 election. Police said the bombings occurred on the outskirts of the city 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad. Details were sketchy as most officials were observing Arbain, which marks the end of 40 days of mourning for Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, who died in a 7th century battle at Kerbala. Overall violence in Iraq has fallen sharply, but Shiite gatherings remain a target for Sunni militants. Insurgents have also launched a series of coordinated suicide assaults on Baghdad since August aimed at undermining Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ahead of the election.
Banned under Saddam Hussein, Arbain and other Shiite religious events have drawn millions of Shiites not just from Iraq but also from nearby countries like Iran since the Sunni dictator was ousted in the 2003 US invasion.
A bomb planted on a cart pulled by a motorbike killed at least 20 pilgrims on Wednesday as they streamed into Karbala. More than 40 were killed outside the capital on Monday as they began the long walk to Kerbala.
The attacks added to sectarian tensions that have been rising as a result of an election ban imposed on almost 500 candidates suspected of links to Saddam’s outlawed Baath party. Although the list contained more Shiite than Sunni politicians, many Sunnis believed it was aimed at preventing them from gaining a fair share of power in the election next month.
Sunnis largely boycotted the last national election in 2005 and their anger at their loss of power fuelled a powerful insurgency. Renewed Sunni frustration could encourage insurgents like al-Qaeda even though the wider sectarian war between Sunnis and Shiites has faded. The ban on the candidates was suspended on Thursday until after the vote by an appellate panel.
Infuriated by the panel’s action, the Shiite-led government has called a special session of parliament for Sunday and asked the country’s supreme court to rule on the legality of the panel’s decision. Iraq’s Shiite majority and minority Kurds were often brutally oppressed by the Baath party under Saddam and many of its current Shiite leaders were forced to spend years in exile. Pilgrims in Karbala said they were fearful about the arduous journey home after the rite finishes on Friday, despite the deployment of tens of thousands of troops and police.
