Iraqi troops pass festival test

By Gabriel Gatehouse
BBC News, Baghdad

Police checks prevented bombers getting into the shrine

Iraqi security forces have passed the first big test of their capabilities since US troops withdrew from towns and cities late last month.

A major religious festival in the capital, Baghdad, passed off with no large-scale violence.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from across Iraq and abroad visited for one of the most important dates in the Shia religious calendar.

Gatherings like this have been targets for sectarian attacks in the past.

The authorities in Baghdad say up to five million pilgrims descended on the capital over the past week to visit the shrine of Imam Moussa Al-Kadhim.

Only three were killed - in two separate bomb-attacks on Friday; in all more than 30 others were wounded.

In pictures: Iraqi Shia festival

In most countries this would be considered a tragedy. In Iraq, it is counted as a success.

For the first time since the American-led invasion in 2003, Iraqi forces alone were in charge of providing security for such a large-scale event.

A partial curfew in the capital and multiple cordons of police and soldiers ensured no attackers reached the shrine itself in the north of the city.

The fact that the event passed off relatively peacefully is a major boost for the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, who celebrated last month's withdrawal of American forces.

The withdrawal did not lead to a sudden increase in the number of attacks, as some had feared.

But neither has violence decreased significantly. Bombings, shootings and suicide attacks remain an almost daily feature of life in Iraq.