Bomb kills 20 in Iraqi Shi'ite city of Kerbala

A bomb on a cart pulled by a motorcycle killed at least 20 in a crowd of Shi'ite pilgrims on Wednesday in Iraq's holy city of Kerbala where hundreds of thousands have gathered for a religious rite, police said.

The attack was the third this week on Shi'ites making the arduous religious trek to the city south of Baghdad, stoking condemnations from pilgrims of Iraqi politicians in the tense run up to a potentially violent parliamentary election in March.

Police and hospital sources said that up to 110 people were wounded when the bomb exploded in Kerbala, 80km (50 miles) southwest of the capital.

Sunni Islamist insurgents such as al Qaeda frequently hit Shi'ite gatherings with suicide bombers, grenades and shootings in the hope of re-starting the bloody sectarian strife that nearly tore Iraq apart in 2006-07.

"I feel sorry to see that Iraqi politicians spare no efforts preparing for the next election while at the same time bodies of innocents are ripped apart by bombs," said Abdul-Amir Hassan, 41, a high school teacher who spent a week walking to Kerbala.

"Recent terrorist attacks targeting pilgrims across the country prove the confusion and inability of the security forces to tackle a sensitive situation like Arbain," he said. Arbain  marks 40 days of mourning for Hussein, the Prophet Mohammad's grandson, who died in the seventh century battle.

Police said three people were killed and 21 wounded late on Tuesday when a bomb attached to a military vehicle exploded in Kerbala. On Monday, a female suicide bomber killed more than 40 pilgrims on the outskirts of Baghdad.

Prime minister Nuri al-Maliki has made improved security across Iraq a central theme of his campaign for the March 7 parliamentary election and he has called on the security forces to ensure pilgrims heading to Kerbala are protected.

The attacks on pilgrims and a series of coordinated suicide bombings in Baghdad since August could harm his efforts to claim credit for an overall drop in violence in the past two years and may be aimed at undermining his chance of re-election.

City officials said that some 30,000 security forces were deployed in Kerbala with 2,500 women assigned to searching female pilgrims wearing traditional abaya robes.

They estimated six million pilgrims — from Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, India, Pakistan, the United States and other nations — were in Kerbala.

Iraq wants to leave behind years of sectarian carnage, war and mayhem. It is starting to revamp a dilapidated oil sector that provides Iraq with nearly all its revenues.

Pilgrims in Kerbala complained bitterly that the government had failed to protect them.

"When I left my house four days ago, I never stopped thinking about getting killed. I lost my brother last Ashura ... and I always say I could be next," said Jasim Mohammed, a civil servant, referring to another Shi'ite ritual, Ashura.

"We will never bow to terrorists. Today I'm coming to Kerbala to practice my rituals and soon I will vote with same determination."