Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it
exclusively produces is in the public domain.
February 27, 2008

Security Tight in Iraq for Shi'ite Religious Ceremony
-----------------------------------------------------

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1B5F70B:A6F02AD83191E1603A7E840BD31106223CF5CDEF8FC051DA& Millions gather in
Karbala ahead of one of the holiest religious ceremonies on the
Shi'ite Muslim calendar, Arbaeen 





Shiite pilgrims gather in the holy city of Karbala, Iraq, 27 Feb 2008
Millions of pilgrims are streaming into the Iraqi city of Karbala
ahead of one of the holiest religious ceremonies on the Shi'ite Muslim
calendar -Arbaeen.



The celebrations are expected to climax Thursday, when pilgrims gather
to pay homage at the burial ground of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson,
Imam Hussein.

Many of the pilgrims made the journey by foot from the capital,
Baghdad. Iraqi police say one Shi'ite pilgrim was killed Wednesday
when a roadside bomb exploded near a bus in the Iraqi capital.

Earlier this week, a series of of attacks on pilgrims killed at least
63 people and wounded more than 100 others.

In other news, a British official says Prime Minister Gordon Brown and
his Iraqi counterpart Wednesday discussed the plight of five British
hostages in Iraq.

A government spokesman says Mr. Brown and Nouri al-Maliki talked by
telephone about a video broadcast Tuesday by the Arab news channel,
Al-Arabiya, that shows one of five Britons taken hostage by Shi'ite
militants in Iraq last May.

In the video, the hostage, Peter Moore, calls on Mr. Brown to free
nine Iraqis in exchange for the release of the five Britons.

Mr. Brown's spokesman said both leaders deplored the video. He says
they agreed to continue their close cooperation to secure the
hostages' release.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP.


.