Thousands of Iraqi Shiites beat themselves in Ashoura marches

Tens of thousands of Iraqis marched and beat themselves today in blood-soaked processions through the holy city of Karbala and other Shiite centres across the country to mourn the seventh-century death of their revered martyr, Imam Hussein.

Amid tight security and as a fierce sandstorm swept the country, hundreds of thousands of people descended on Karbala, where Hussein is believed buried, to take part in ceremonies marking Ashoura, the 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic lunar calendar.