33 killed in blast near Shi'ite holy shrine in Iraq

NAJAF, Iraq: A suicide bomber killed at least 33 people and wounded 100 near a sacred Shi'ite shrine in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf on Thursday, hospital sources said.

They said the bomber blew up when he was stopped at a police commando checkpoint as he was heading to the Imam Ali shrine.

Shi'ite al-Forat television channel said there were two attacks, including the suicide blast that was also near a market.   Ambulances drove through the streets of Najaf appealing for blood donations as the scale of devastation became clear and the numbers of injured rose.

The dead included police and civilians, police and hospital sources said. Al-Qaeda in Iraq has staged several suicide bomb attacks in a bid to draw Iraq's majority Shi'ites into a sectarian civil war with Sunni Arabs, although there was no immediate claim for Thursday's attack.