Mourners rage at US as blasts death toll could hit 271

SHI'ITE Muslim mourners chanted anti-American slogans yesterday, venting their anger at Iraq's instability after suicide bombings killed up to 271 pilgrims.

As the country began three days of mourning, officials said 15 people, some possibly Iranians, were detained after the attacks.

US officials have put the combined death toll at 170 but Iraq Governing Council President Mohammed Bahr al-Ulloum said up to 271 were killed and 393 wounded in Tuesday's near-simultaneous bombings at Baghdad's Kazimiya shrine and holy sites in Karbala.

A draft constitution will be signed tomorrow at the end of the national period of mourning.

American forces claim to have intelligence connecting the bombings to Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a militant linked to al-Qaida.

"The level of organisation and the desire to cause casualties among innocent worshippers is a clear hallmark of the Zarqawi network and we have intelligence that ties Zarqawi to this attack," said General John Abizaid, head of the US Central Command in the Middle East.

But a letter purported to be from al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden's terror network, issued an unusual denial that it was responsible.

Tuesday's bombings using suicide attackers and bombs brought in on wooden carts struck pilgrims from Iraq, Iran and other Shi'ite communities who had gathered to mark Ashoura, the holiest day of the Shi'ite calendar. Iran said at least 22 of its citizens were among the dead.

Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said 15 people were detained in Karbala after being pointed out by witnesses. Some had been seen with wooden carts used to bring in explosives.

Among the detainees were five Farsi speakers, he said, which suggested they were Iranians. He said the 10 others appeared to be Iraqis. An estimated 100,000 Iranians are believed to have come to Iraq for Ashoura.

Three suicide bombers carried out the blasts at Kazimiya, one inside the shrine's courtyard and two outside, Kimmitt said. The Karbala attack involved one suicide bomber and cart-borne bombs set up on nearby roads. Mortars may also have been fired on the city outskirts, he said.

As authorities slowly identified the dead, relatives picked up slain loved ones from Karbala's Al-Hussein hospital. Others wept as they scanned handwritten lists of names posted on the hospital walls. Iranian pilgrims, speaking in Farsi, struggled to communicate with Iraqi hospital officials.

Several thousand joined a funeral procession in the afternoon. "No, no, Americans! No, no Israel! No, no, terrorists!" they chanted.

Iraqi leaders have worried about Shi'ite revenge attacks against Sunnis and pleaded for unity. Many Iraqis, including Shi'ites, have also blamed foreigners throwing suspicion on al-Qaida. But the focus of Shi'ite anger has been directed more at the US-led occupation. Some, including the top Shi'ite cleric, accused American officials of not doing enough to protect the 10-day Ashoura ceremonies.

American and Iraqi officials pointed to al-Zarqawi, as a "prime suspect" in the attacks, saying he aims to spark a Shi'ite-Sunni civil war in Iraq.

The purported al-Qaida letter, received yesterday by email at the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, denied responsibility, blaming American troops instead, but also called Shi'ites infidels.

Also yesterday, three rockets hit a telephone exchange building in Baghdad, knocking out the just restored international phone service for much of the country. One Iraqi worker was killed and another injured, Iraqi officials said.