Insurgents Kill 14 South Asian Pilgrims in Iraq
02 September 2006
Iraqi officials say they have found the bodies of 14 South Asian Muslim pilgrims killed earlier this week as they traveled to the holy Shi'ite city of Karbala.
Officials said Saturday the victims included 11 Pakistanis and three Indians. They said some had been tortured.
Pakistan's foreign ministry condemned the killings and warned its nationals to avoid travel to Iraq.
In Baghdad (Waziriyah district), nearly simultaneous explosions Saturday killed at least three people and wounded 16 others.
Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met Shi'ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to discuss ways to end sectarian fighting across the country.
After talks in the holy city of Najaf, Mr. Maliki told reporters he planned to make changes soon to four government ministries.
U.S. officials said they had postponed until Sunday a ceremony to transfer operational command of Iraq's military to Iraqi officials. U.S. officials said the change was due to planning errors.
Earlier, the Iraqi government said it had taken control of the country's Abu Ghraib prison from the U.S. military. Iraqi officials say there are no prisoners in the facility, which was the site of an abuse scandal involving U.S. soldiers.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters
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