Shiite ceremony tests Iraqi security forces after U.S. troops pullout

by Jamal Hashim

BAGHDAD, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces faced their first serious test of working on their own, after the June 30 U.S. troops withdrawal, to maintain security during a major Shiite religious pilgrimage that draws millions of pilgrims.

Each year, on the very date of the Islamic calendar, hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims rally at the site of Imam Musa al-Kadhim mausoleum in Baghdad's northern district of Kadhimiyah to commemorate the death of the seventh of the most revered 12 Shiite Imams.

During the past five days, the total number of pilgrims reached up to 6 million by the end of the event which culminates on Saturday, according to Iraqi official estimates.

Processions of pilgrims kept pouring into the Baghdad shrine on foot or by bus from Baghdad neighborhoods, cities across the country and from outside Iraq.

"We have been receiving pilgrims for several days and their numbers are in the millions, some came from Arab countries and others from other countries," Fadhel al-Anbari, an official in the shrine, said.

Black-clad men, youths and children walked in groups to the shrine, waving black, green and red flags, accompanied by drummers, and marching in lines through the streets of Kadhimiyah.

Some pilgrims beat their chests and heads and performed self-flagellation with chains in honor of Imam Musa al-Kadhim who was poisoned to death while in prison in the year 977 AD, during the Abbasid era.

Iraqi authorities tightened security measures, as thousands of Iraqi security troops manned dozens of checkpoints and patrolled across Baghdad, while army helicopters hovered overhead.

And thousands more of security members with hundreds of civilian guards, recruited by Shiite clerics, were deployed in and around Kadhimiyah district.

A traffic ban was imposed inside and around the district of Kadhimiyah and the troops blocked all the entrances to the holly site. Only pedestrians were allowed, but they have to cross three rings of security checkpoints.

Major General Qassim Atta, spokesman for Baghdad command operations, claimed success for the Iraqi security forces as there were almost no serious security breakdowns considering the number of pilgrims which was in millions.

"I can confirm that our security plan has fully succeeded that the number of pilgrims has exceeded six or even maybe seven million with no serious breakdowns," Atta told reporters.

Atta has said earlier that the security plan was designed and implemented by Iraqis without help from the Multi-National Forces.

"This is the first 100 percent Iraqi security plan to protect the pilgrims of Imam Musa al-Kadhim. The forces are all Iraqis, even the helicopters above," Atta said.

The Iraqi authorities consider the security measures during themajor pilgrimage as a key test for its security troops after over two weeks of the U.S. troops withdrawal from Iraqi cities and towns in line with a security agreement signed late last year between Baghdad and Washington.

Despite strict security measures, some bomb attacks took place against Shiite pilgrims who were traveling on foot through Baghdad districts. On Friday only, sporadic bomb attacks in Baghdad killeda pilgrim and wounded 41 others.

However, Abu Haider, 55, a pilgrim who came walking with family members and some friends from the city of Hilla, some 100 km south of Baghdad, saw that security measures were good enough.

"I believe that security situation was good and we never felt threat like that in the past years. Our troops are doing well," Abu Haider said.

Fatema al-Saadi, an old woman walking with her daughter and sister, said she was happy to see people of the nearby Sunni neighborhood of Kadhimiyah helping the Shiite pilgrims after years of sectarian strife.

"What made me happy was that many Sunni people of Kadhimiyah dashed to the streets when we were crossing their neighborhood, giving us water and food just like the old days before the war (the U.S.-led invasion)," Saadi said with tears of happiness in her eyes.

"That proves we are brothers and what happened (the sectarian strife) was only caused by foreigners," she said.