Dozens of Iraqis have been killed in the past two days during a Shi’ite festival in Karbala. Reports from the city indicate that clashes between two rival Shi’ite movements were the cause of the deadly outcome.
The police are now calling on visitors, who came to celebrate the birthday of the Rightly Guided Imam (Al-Imam Al-Mahdi), to leave the city immediately. Over one million visitors congregated in Karbala, many of whom fled in accordance with police orders, the Iraqi daily A-Zaman reported.
The clashes erupted near the sacred shrines of Imam Hussein and Imam ‘Abbas, as participants affiliated with a Shi’ite movement led by Muqta’da A-‘Sadr clashed with the shrines’ guards, who are affiliated with a second Shi’ite movement led by ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz Al-Hakim. The guards were joined by local policemen, who are also members of Al-Hakim’s movement.
The Media Line’s analysts indicate that most of southern Iraq is controlled by the Badr organization – the powerful paramilitary force of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), led by Al-Hakim.
Al-Hakim’s movement is competing with A-‘Sadr’s movement for control over the Shi’ite-dominated southern region of Iraq.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad said Tuesday his country would be willing to fill the vacuum which will be created by the "rapidly deteriorating American force" in Iraq.
"We are ready to help our friends in the region and the Iraqi people in filling this vacuum," Ahmadi Nejad said during a press conference.