Bloodiest Day yet in Iraq As 143 Die in Bombings

Summary

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KARBALA - Nearly simultaneous explosions ripped through Shi'a Muslim holy sites in Karbala and Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 143 people and injuring more than 400 in the bloodiest day of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Tuesday was the holiest day of the Shi'a religious calendar, Ashoura, an emotionally charged festival marking the betrayal and killing of an early Shi'a clerical leader. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims had come to visit his tomb in Karbala and to mark a holiday that had been banned by the Hussein regime.

He was joined in his criticism by a Governing Council member who leads one of the country's largest Shi'a political parties, Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. But several other prominent council members noted that it was difficult to stop suicide bombers.

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Extract

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Bloodiest Day yet in Iraq As 143 Die in Bombings

KARBALA - Nearly simultaneous explosions ripped through Shi'a Muslim holy sites in Karbala and Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 143 people and inju...

See the full content of this document

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