Security tight for Iraq pilgrims

A symbolic green coffin was carried by some of the massive crowd

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have converged in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on one of Shia Islam's holiest shrines, amid a big security operation.

Nearly 2,000 Iraqi police and security agents are guarding the Kadhimiya mosque in the city's north, and local traffic has been banned until Saturday.

Each year, a million pilgrims walk to the shrine where the 8th Century imam, Moussa al-Kadhim, is said to be buried.

In 2005, nearly 1,000 people died when rumours of an attack caused a stampede.

Many victims, mostly women, children or elderly, were crushed or drowned as panic spread that there were suicide bombers among the pilgrims.

At least 20 people were killed and dozens wounded at the festival last year, when militants shot at pilgrims from rooftops as they processed through mainly Sunni areas of Baghdad.

Tight security

Hundreds of thousands of Shia pilgrims made their way on foot to the famous golden-domed shrine of Moussa al-Kadhim on Thursday morning.

Of course, I am afraid. But, God willing, I will come home safe Um Khaled Pilgrim Pilgrimage in pictures

Others chanted and beat their chests in mourning to commemorate the death in 799 of the seventh of the 12 imams. A symbolic green coffin was carried by some of the massive crowd.

Many had walked for days in intense summer heat from the Shia holy cities south of Baghdad to attend the festival.

"Of course, I am afraid. But, God willing, I will come home safe," Um Khaled told the Reuters news agency.

"I have made this pilgrimage every year, it will not stop me," she added.

Abd Sirhan, who had walked for two days from Aziziya, a town 80km south of the capital, said the pilgrims had been well protected by Iraqi police and soldiers.

"It is not like last year. This year it is secure," he said.

By 1400 (1000 GMT), Iraqi police said there had been comparatively few reports of violence, with three pilgrims being wounded by gunmen as they walked through the predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Yarmouk in western Baghdad.

Undercover officers

Before the festival began, nearly 2,000 Iraqi police, including hundreds of security agents, were deployed in and around the mosque.

New checkpoints have been established around the mosque

New checkpoints were established in the area to deter possible insurgent attacks, especially in places where large crowds were expected to gather.

The Iraqi security forces also said they would deploy undercover officers to mingle among the pilgrims.

US troops have been keeping a low profile, staying away from the shrine out of religious sensitivity.

The mosque has long been a target of insurgents, the BBC's Andy Gallacher in Baghdad says.

These pilgrimages were banned under former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

But now they are something of a show of power for Shia Muslims in Iraq, our correspondent says.