Source: Alalam.ir, 19-1-2008
KERBALA, Iraq--About 2.5 million Muslims gathered in the holy city of Karbala Saturday to mark Ashoura -- one of the holiest events in the Shiite calendar.
Iraqi security forces have launched major operations across southern Iraq and in other areas to protect pilgrims, including vehicle curfews, 25,000 soldiers and police and the use of Iraqi surveillance aircraft for the first time.
Black-clad pilgrims have gathered in the city, 110 km (70 miles) south of Baghdad, for the 10-day event which commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (peace be upon on him), the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him), near the city 1,300 years ago.
Hundreds of pilgrims from the Persian Gulf states, encouraged by improved security in Iraq, attended for the first time in years.
Suspected Al-Qaeda bombers and mortar attacks killed 171 people during Ashoura in Kerbala and Baghdad in 2004, while clashes between rival factions at a religious ceremony last August killed more than 50 people.
Kerbala governor Aqeel al-Khazali said more than 2.5 million visitors, many of them walking, had converged on Kerbala for the ritual, which was severely curtailed under Saddam Hussein.
Declining violence has allowed Iraqis to return to some semblance of normal life, as well as convincing the Persian Gulf Arab Shiites to come to Kerbala to observe Ashura.
"Many friends I talked to encouraged me to visit Kerbala this year because it's safe enough," said 45-year-old Hamdan Abu Mohammed, who came with a tour group from Kuwait through Iran.
Najma al-Haeil, 41, came from Bahrain with her two sisters and was happy to have reached the holy city for the first time.
"I believe Kerbala is not an Iraqi city, it is a city for all Muslims," Haeil told Reuters.
"I heard that the security situation was in disarray but when I arrived I was surprised that security is good, and I was surprised that the people received us warmly," she said.
Estimates for the number of the Persian Gulf Arab visitors were difficult to obtain.
Kerbala tourism official Mohammed Saddiq al-Hir said 680 came from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Nafi abu Jabir, a tour operator from Bahrain, said he alone had brought in 250 pilgrims.
It is a difficult journey for many the Persian Gulf pilgrims, who go through Iran on their way to Kerbala.
Fudha al-Abtan, a 49-year-old Saudi woman who came with her husband and two sisters, said the journey had taken 10 days and cost $1,500.
"When we came to Kerbala, we expected the worst, but it's really safe," she said.
Abtan's biggest concern, echoed by many pilgrims, was that they would face questioning when they returned home, although she said the Iraqi embassy in Tehran had given them temporary documents to enter Iraq.
Kuwait's Mohammed agreed: "The issue of participating in a Shiite religious ritual is very sensitive in Kuwait, but we don't care because our passports will not be marked by an Iraq border stamp."