Ten policeman killed by car bomb in Samarra

According to Iraqi police, a car bomb explosion in the city of Samarra has killed 10 policemen and wounded 16 others. The victims, part of a counter-terrorist squad unit, were sent to the city, 100km north of Baghdad, to protect Shi'a pilgrims during a religious celebration.

The latest attack comes nine days after a suicide bomber killed 33 Shi'a Muslims and injured 40 others at a bus terminal in the city centre. Victims of the attack were mostly Shi'a pilgrims returning home after attending a religious ceremony at the Al-Askari mosque.

The gold-domed mosque is dedicated to ninth century Imam Hassan al-Askari, making it a major Shi'a pilgrimage centre; it was mostly destroyed following a massive bombing in 2006, an attack blamed for starting the 2006-07 wave of sectarian bloodshed.

Overall violence in Iraq has dropped sharply recently, but bombings are still common. Attacks on Shia pilgrims have claimed hundreds of lives in recent months.

Sources: BBC News, RTT News , PressTV

For more news and expert analysis about Iraq, please see Iraq Focus.

Discontented Shi'a Muslims take to the streets in Bahrain

The demonstrations in Bahrain have been mostly by Shi'a Muslims associated with groups that have rejected the deal agreed by the main Shi'a political party (Al Wefaq) and the regime, under which there are 18 Shi'a members in the lower house of the parliament.

The majority of Shi'a appear to support the deal which allows a substantial Shi'a representation and accept for the time being (or have done up to now) the reality that the Sunni minority (40 per cent plus) get most seats in parliament (22 out of 40). King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa has made other moves to involve the Shi'a in government and decision making.

Several smaller Shi'a groups reject this arrangement and have been engaged in various forms of protest over the past 4-5 years including, on occasions, quite big demonstrations.

During the 1990s, there were several years of Shi'a rioting and low level violence mostly in rural areas against a constitution that allowed them virtually no representation. When King Hamad took power in 1999 he offered a new deal whereby the Shi'a appeared to be able to vote freely for a Lower House which would have the main say in parliament. He later altered this to an equal voice to the Upper House. Election arrangements for the Lower House are organised (i.e. gerrymandered) to ensure that the Shi'a are under-represented. The main Shi'a leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, recognising the fact that the Sunni control the defence and security services, and of course the ruling family, accepted the new arrangement and they have tried to negotiate changes to it. Salman believes that the Shi'a have more to gain by working with the regime than against it.

The current disturbances are, therefore, part of a long running problem and, so far, appear to affect only a section of the Shi'a population. The majority of the Shi'a, however, have not been able to make much progress in trying to negotiate with the King which has caused some loss of support to the minority groups. There are also strong suspicions that the regime has been granting nationality to Sunni from Jordan and other countries in an effort to increase Sunni demographic size. The situation is further complicated by divisions within the ruling family between a more liberal element that seem to be amenable to granting concessions to the Shi'a and a hard liner faction led by the King's uncle Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, that do not.

The situation will need to be watched. It is containable, as illustrated last night with the forced clearing of the protestors from Pearl Square, and the King has acted quickly to look into the deaths of Shi'a demonstrators. The King will want to ensure that demonstrators do not get greater support and no doubt will be worried by the Egyptian effect. He will also be aware that if the Shi'a get too violent Sunni groups may take it on themselves to confront the demonstrators.

© 2011 Menas Associates

A suicide car bomber kills 48 people in Shi'a area of Baghdad

A suicide car bomber targeting a public funeral, in the predominantly Shi'a area of Baghdad, has killed 48 people and left 121 seriously injured. According reports, the mourners attacked the police, as it arrived in the north-western Shula district, for failing to provide sufficient protection.

It is thought that the attack may have been masterminded by a Sunni terrorist group, linked to the Al-Qai'da, known for attacking public gatherings. The latest attack on Shi'a Muslims comes after a number of bombing killed dozens of Shi'a pilgrims during a religious celebration in the holy city of Karbala last week. Over the course of the last month, a spate of bombings against pilgrims and Iraqi security officers has killed more than 170 people.

Eyewitness reports suggested that the police fired into the air to disperse the crowds, but came under attack from armed gunmen. In order to stop the situation escalating further, the military was deployed to the town to restore order.

The country's security is a prevailing issue, magnified by the withdrawal of US troops, that shall present a challenge to Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki and his coalition government.

Sources: BBC News, Los Angeles Times , FT, Miami Herald, The Independent

For more news and expert analysis about Iraq, please see Iraq Focus.

Iraq: Two bomb explosions hit the holy city of Karbala

Iraq's Interior Ministry has said that two car bombs have exploded in the holly city of Karbala killing more than 18 Shi'a pilgrims in the city for Arbaeen, a religious observance and one of the holiest days in the Shi's calendar. It is estimated that at least 55 people were injured in the explosions.

The first bomb exploded in the morning while the pilgrims were disembarking from buses in the holy city, south of Baghdad. It was reported that six people had been killed in the first blast and 34 injured. The second bomb, which exploded several hours later, killed 10 pilgrims and two soldiers, and injured 21. The third explosive device was detected and defused.

All vehicles are banned from going into the city centre as pilgrims continue gathering for their ritual marking of the end of a 40-day mourning period for Shi'a Muslims' most beloved saint Imam Hussein, whose death in battle near Karbala cemented the historic Sunni-Shi'a split.

Around 30,000 Iraqi security forces have been deployed to the city to bolster security for the ritual, which culminates on Tuesday 25th January. No singular group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack, but it is believed to be the work of extremists linked with the Al-Qa'ida or Sunni militants. The Karbala explosions come four days after multiple bombings that left 50 people dead and 150 wounded, most of them Shi'a Muslims.

Sources: CNN, Xinhua, The Guardian, Al-Bawaba

For more news and expert analysis about Iraq, please see Iraq Focus.