Chanting, slashing their bodies, Shiites go to worship

KARBALA, Iraq -- Swaying and chanting, some slashing their bodies and drawing blood, an estimated 1 million Shiite Muslims marched to this city's holy shrine Tuesday to mourn one of their most revered saints -- but also to celebrate their new freedoms after years of repression by Saddam Hussein's regime.

Pilgrims, many limping from long journeys in 90-degree heat, pressed up against each other on roads. U.S. troops were largely out of sight, with a few members of the U.S.-backed Iraqi National Congress at checkpoints.

The large turnout attests to the power and potential of Iraq's majority Shiite community, which despite bitter internal differences was able to pull off the event on short notice and thus far -- the pilgrimage ends Thursday -- without violence.

Two prominent figures in the Shiite clergy are Grand Ayatollah Ali Hussein al-Sistani, who is Iraq's top Shiite cleric and heads the Hawza al-Ilmiya, a center of Shiite learning in the holy city of Najaf; and Muqtada al-Sadr, the son of al-Sistani's slain predecessor.

Praising unity

"All the religious leaders, Sistani and Sadr, united to make it successful and had it not been for this unity it would have failed," said Sheik Sadeq Jaafar al-Tarfi, who is affiliated with the Hawza. "After the regime collapsed we were faced with the problem of a political vacuum. So we moved in a specialized and organized way to face this problem."

He said the Hawza sent in thousands of volunteers to manage security and traffic. American troops were ready with food and water; it wasn't needed.

The United States hopes to work with Shiites to form a new government without resorting to a Shiite theocracy like the one in neighboring Iran -- a balancing act that will test the skills of retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Jay Garner, who is overseeing Iraq's postwar reconstruction.

Shiites were long suppressed by Saddam's ruling Sunni minority. Since the fall of Saddam's regime, Shiites have been setting up local administrations, and religious leaders have emerged as key sources of political power, especially in southern Iraq. It is unclear whether clerics will be ready to transfer power to a new government.

Senior Shiite clerics insist they want to share power with Iraq's other communities, particularly Sunnis and Kurds. But many Shiites -- from secularists to fundamentalists -- have also shown a deep mistrust of U.S. efforts in Iraq.

There was anti-American sentiment among the pilgrims Tuesday. Some held signs that said "Bush Saddam" and "Down USA."

Anti-Saddam feelings, however, appeared stronger -- perhaps because, in an apparent attempt to avoid friction with pilgrims, American troops mostly stayed clear of the city.

Pilgrims beat their chests and screamed: "You dirty Saddam, where are you so that we can fight you?"

Water trucks were brought in for the pilgrims. Roving men sprayed worshippers with rose water, which cools and conveys a blessing.

Shiites from Iran joined those from Iraq and other countries to converge on Karbala -- site of the 7th-century martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. The extent of the Iranian presence was unclear. The border between the two countries is officially closed but porous.

Akram al-Hakim, a London-based Iraqi Shiite activist, said outsiders who expect Iraqi Shiites to try to recreate Iran's clerical regime have "Iran phobia."

"Iraqi Shiites cannot contemplate an Islamic state to replace Saddam's regime. They only want their share of power," he said.

Even so, some pilgrims said Iran provides a model for a future Iraqi government.

Khalil Jalil, 53, said he wants "a democratic state like Iran, a modern state but not a backward state, that gives everyone his right to practice his religious rituals and the freedom of opinion."

The pilgrimage marks the anniversary of the end of the traditional 40-day mourning period for Hussein, who died because the people failed to rise up and support him in the face of a vast army.

The pilgrims included men and women of all ages -- the men clad mostly in white robes and headbands, the women cloaked head to toe in traditional black dress.

Two men crawled on their stomachs into a shrine, saying they had vowed months ago to crawl into Karbala if the Americans ousted Saddam.

"We were prohibited from visiting these shrines for a long time by the Baath Party and their agents," Abed Ali Ghilani said. "This year we thank God for ridding us of the dictator Saddam Hussein and for letting us visit these shrines."

The main shrine in Karbala is Hussein's tomb, but other Shiite holy men are buried there, and their graves attract visitors, too. Packs of men circled the main shrines, creating a vortex of humanity. Some worshippers carried photos of Shiite clerics such as Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, who was killed by Saddam's regime in 1999 and is now revered by many as a martyr.

Slashing heads

Two groups of 100 men in white robes slashed their heads with long, sharp swords, spraying blood on those near them, to symbolize their anguish over Hussein's slaying.

Hussein was killed in the Battle of Karbala between a small group of his followers and the Umayyad Army. The Shiites see Hussein and his father, Ali, as the rightful heirs to the prophet, and the battle in which Hussein died was one in a series of clashes between Sunnis, who disputed the Ali-Hussein claim, and Shiites.

On Tuesday, Shiites waved their blades at Hussein's shrine, shouting "Hail, Hussein." Some were taken away for medical treatment, others went to traditional Iraqi bathhouses.

The event was peaceful for the most part, although the U.S. military said police on Monday arrested six men who had been planning to blow up two of Karbala's mosques.

Five of the detainees claimed to be members of Saddam's Baath Party, and one said he belonged to al-Qaida, said Army Capt. Jimmie Cummings.

At one of the entrances to Karbala, members of the Free Iraqi Forces, the military wing of the U.S.-backed Iraqi National Congress, were seen checking cars. Some wore black headbands, a symbol of mourning.

Special forces' treatment

Maj. James M. Bozeman, a civil affairs officer attached to the 82nd Airborne Division, said U.S. special forces treated scores of pilgrims for minor injuries such as sprains, cramps and heat exhaustion.

The United States stockpiled 100,000 rations and a large supply of water for pilgrims but did not need them because the pilgrimage "is self-sufficient," he said.

"It's going very smoothly," Bozeman said. "Our teams down there have had no problems."

Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, deputy operations director at U.S. Central Command, noted that it was the U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam that made the pilgrimage possible.

"There are estimates there are more than 1 million people participating in something that would not have been possible before," said Brooks, speaking in Qatar. "And thus far it has occurred without any significant incidents."

Throughout the ritual, the organizational ability of the Shiites was on display -- notable considering recent rifts among Shiites.

Abdul Majid al-Khoei, a cleric who had opposed Saddam's rule, was hacked to death April 10 in Najaf along with a pro-Saddam cleric with whom he appeared as a gesture of reconciliation. Al-Sistani was one of several clerics reportedly threatened by the mob in Najaf, which witnesses said was led by followers of al-Sadr and made up of members of the Baath Party.