Hugo Chavez's allies re-elect legislative chief

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Allies of cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez on Saturday chose to keep the same National Assembly president — a man who could be in line to step in as a caretaker leader in some circumstances.
The vote to retain Diosdado Cabello as legislative leader signaled the ruling party's desire to stress unity and continuity amid growing signs the government plans to postpone Chavez's inauguration for a new term while he fights a severe respiratory infection nearly a month after cancer surgery in Cuba.
The opposition and some legal experts have argued that if Chavez is unable to be sworn in as scheduled on Thursday, the president of the National Assembly should take over on an interim basis.
Cabello's selection quashed speculation about possible political reshuffling in the midst of Chavez's health crisis, and it came as Vice President Nicolas Maduro joined other allies in suggesting that Chavez could remain president and take the oath of office before the Supreme Court later on if he isn't fit to be sworn in on the scheduled date.
"It strikes me that the government has decided to put things on hold, to wait and see what happens with Chavez's health and other political factors, and figure out the best way to insure continuity," said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington. "Maduro and Cabello are clearly the key players within Chavismo today, each heading separate factions, but for the time being the idea is to reaffirm both and project a sense of unity."
Cabello, a former military officer who is widely considered to wield influence in the military, was re-elected by a show of hands by Chavez's allies, who hold a majority of the 165 congressional seats.
Pro-Chavez party leaders ignored calls to include opposition lawmakers among the legislative leadership, and opposition lawmaker Ismael Garcia said the choices represented "intolerance." None of the opposition lawmakers supported the new legislative leaders.
Hundreds of Chavez's supporters gathered outside the National Assembly to show their support, some holding flags and pictures of the president.
The Venezuelan Constitution says the presidential oath should be taken Jan. 10 before the National Assembly. It also says that if the president is unable to be sworn in before the Assembly, he may take the oath before the Supreme Court, and some legal experts in addition to Chavez allies have noted that the sentence referring to the court does not mention a date.
"When, it doesn't say. Where, it doesn't say either," Cabello told supporters after the session. Apparently alluding to possible protests by opponents over the issue of delaying the inauguration, Cabello told supporters: "The people have to be alert on the street so that there is no show."
Without giving details, Cabello urged them to "defend the revolution."
Maduro argued that Chavez, as a re-elected president, remains in his post after Jan. 10 regardless of whether he has taken the oath of office on that date. "When he can, he will be sworn in," Maduro said.
The latest remarks by the two most powerful men in Chavez's party sent the strongest signals yet that the government wants to delay the 58-year-old president's inauguration.
Former Supreme Court magistrate Roman Duque Corredor disagreed with Maduro, saying that "the constitution doesn't allow an extension" of a presidential term.
"An extension of a term can't be discussed," Duque said told The Associated Press a phone interview. "What would be right is to definitively determine what the president's state of health is." He said the Supreme Court should designate a board of doctors to determine whether Chavez's condition prevents him from continuing to exercise his duties temporarily or permanently.
If Chavez dies or is declared incapacitated, the constitution says that a new election should be called and held within 30 days, and Chavez has said Maduro should be the candidate. There have been no public signs of friction between the vice president and Cabello, who appeared side-by-side waving to supporters after the session and vowed to remain united.
"Come here, Nicolas. You're by brother, friend. They don't understand that," Cabello said, hugging Maduro before the crowd. Referring to government opponents, he said: "They're terrified of that, unity."
But opposition lawmaker Julio Borges said the government's choices of legislative leaders pointed to an arrangement aimed at containing an internal "rupture."
Borges told reporters that he believes there is a behind-the-scenes "fight" in the president's party to avoid Cabello assuming powers temporarily if Chavez is unable to be sworn in on schedule. The lawmaker asserted that there are serious tensions between those who support a "model that's kidnapped from Havana" and a military-aligned wing in Chavez's movement.
Cabello sought to cut off such speculation, saying: "We will never betray the will of the Venezuelan people. We will never betray the orders and instructions of Commander Chavez."
The National Assembly president also dismissed the possibility of dialogue with Chavez's opponents, saying: "There is no conciliation possible with that perverse right."
Both Maduro and Cabello have reasons for presenting a united front, political analyst Vladimir Villegas said.
"They have the responsibility to keep Chavismo united because the division of Chavismo would be the ruin of both of them. For that reason, they're going to do everything possible to stay united," Villegas said.
If the government delays the swearing-in and Chavez's condition improves, the president and his allies could have more time to plan an orderly transition and prepare for a new presidential election.
Opposition leaders have argued the constitution is clear that the inauguration should occur Thursday, and one presidential term ends and another begins. They have demanded more information about Chavez's condition and have said that if Chavez can't make it back to Caracas by Thursday, the president of the National Assembly should take over provisionally.
If such a change were to occur, it might not lead to any perceptible policy shifts because Cabello is a longtime Chavez ally who vows to uphold his socialist-oriented Bolivarian Revolution movement. But the latest comments by pro-Chavez leaders indicate they intend to avoid any such changes in the presidency, at least for now.
"We're experiencing political stability," Soto Rojas said as he announced the choices of legislative leaders put forward by Chavez's United Socialist Party of Venezuela. Referring to Chavez, the former legislative leader said: "Onward, Comandante."
Shifter said the government's stance has left opposition on the defensive, with its only tactic being to insist that Jan. 10 is the established date.
"The opposition's strong objections to the government's plan are unlikely to get much political traction," Shifter said. "What the government is doing may be of dubious constitutionality but it fits a familiar pattern under Chavez's rule and will probably have minimal political costs."
Chavez was re-elected in October to another six-year term, and two months later announced that his pelvic cancer had returned. Chavez said before the operation that if his illness prevented him from remaining president, Maduro should be his party's candidate to replace him in a new election.
Chavez hasn't spoken publicly or been seen since before his Dec. 11 operation, his fourth cancer-related surgery since June 2011 for an undisclosed type of pelvic cancer. The government revealed this week that Chavez is fighting a severe lung infection and receiving treatment for "respiratory deficiency."
That account raised the possibility that he might be breathing with the assistance of a machine. But the government did not address that question or details of the president's treatment, and independent medical experts consulted by the AP said the statements indicated a potentially dangerous turn in Chavez's condition, but said it's unclear whether he is attached to a ventilator.

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US family builds Haiti orphanage for daughter

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — An American family who lost their daughter in a massive earthquake in Haiti three years ago has finished building an orphanage in her memory.
The parents of Britney Gengel, Leonard and Cherylann, led about 150 family and friends, including U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, in a solemn ceremony Saturday at the Be Like Brit orphanage in the coastal town of Grand Goave.
"It was a beautiful ceremony and had a great dedication," said Leonard Gengel, 52, of Rutland, Massachusetts.
The brick-and-mortar homage cost about $1.8 million to build, all raised through donations. The 19,000-square-foot (nearly 1,800-square-meter) facility has seismically resistant walls and a medical clinic.
Built in the shape of a letter "B," the orphanage will house 33 boys and 33 girls, representing the number of days Britney's body lay under the rubble.
Gengel was a 19-year-old sophomore at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, who had gone to Haiti to hand out meals for a Christian charity. She died when the hotel where she was staying, the Montana, collapsed.
On Saturday, Haiti will mark the 3rd anniversary of the earthquake that officials say killed more than 300,000 people and displaced more than a million others. The disaster is regarded as one of the worst natural disasters in modern history.

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Venezuela looks for missing plane with Missoni CEO

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The search for a missing plane carrying Italian fashion executive Vittorio Missoni and five other people has entered its third straight day on Sunday with no signs of the aircraft.
Venezuela's government said authorities would not call off the search involving the National Civil Aviation Institute, Coast Guard and Navy until they find the BN-2 Islander plane that disappeared off South American country's coast and all of those who were on board.
"All the authorities involved in these tasks are not reducing the intensity of the search until they locate the plane as well as its crew and passengers," the government said in a written statement. It said search teams are using a plane and two helicopters as well as several coast guard vessels and 29 divers.
The small, twin-engine plane was reported missing hours after taking off Friday from Los Roques, a string of islands and islets popular among tourists for their white beaches and coral reefs.
The plane was carrying the CEO of Italy's iconic Missoni fashion house, his wife, two Italian friends and two Venezuelan crew members.
Officials from Venezuela's civil aviation agency have said that authorities declared an alert after the plane didn't make contact with the control tower at the Caracas airport or with the tower in Los Roques. The plane took off at 11:39 a.m. on Friday and had been expected to arrive at Caracas' Simon Bolivar International Airport 42 minutes later, according to officials.

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Wall Street opens a tad higher after jobs data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened slightly higher after a key U.S. jobs report showed the pace of hiring by employers had eased sightly in December but gave signals of some momentum in the labor market's recovery since the 2007-09 recession.
Though the data showed lackluster economic growth was unable to make a dent in the still-high U.S. unemployment rate, it calmed fears about the possibility of the U.S. Federal Reserve ending its highly stimulative monetary policy.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 17.12 points, or 0.13 percent, at 13,408.48. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 1.49 points, or 0.10 percent, at 1,460.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.75 points, or 0.02 percent, at 3,101.32.

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Data-feed glitch leaves some traders in dark on Nasdaq prices

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A technical glitch caused an outage of around 15 minutes on real-time prices for Nasdaq listed stocks, including Apple Inc and Google Inc , for many investors on Thursday, traders and multiple industry sources said.
Nasdaq said at 1:42 p.m. in an alert to traders that it was investigating an issue involving the Universal Trading Platform's (UTP) centralized securities information processor (SIP) data feeds, which consolidate and display market data for Nasdaq-listed securities from all trading venues.
Shortly after, Direct Edge, the No. 4 U.S. equities exchange, said it had halted trading in all Nasdaq order books. It said about 10 minutes later that all trading had resumed.
U.S. exchanges and alternative trading systems use UTP to quote and trade Nasdaq stocks. Those that do so must provide their data to the SIP for data consolidation and dissemination to traders that subscribe to the data feed.
The outage meant that continuous quotations and continuous last sale information from all market centers trading Nasdaq-listed securities was unavailable to as many as 2.5 million traders, said Eric Hunsader, founder of trading software and technology firm Nanex.
NYSE-listed securities, which are on a different data feed, were unaffected.
Hunsader said the reason behind consolidated feeds was to make market data affordable to the average investor.
Traders can also subscribe to direct data feeds from exchanges, rather than relying on the consolidated feeds. The direct feeds were unaffected by the UTP outage.
"This is a great example of the two-tiered market that we have developed," said Joe Saluzzi, co-head of trading at Themis Trading.
"There are the 'haves,' who subscribe to all of the private data feeds and various hardware and software and spend a ton of money, and then there are the 'have-nots,' which are the public who rely on the SIP," he said.
Data on quotes from the UTP SIP were stopped showing from 13:37.24 to 13:48.19, and data on trades were out from 13:36.55 to 13:51.14, said Hunsader, who maintains a blog where he posts frequently on sudden, computer-driven moves in markets.
A Nasdaq spokesman declined to comment. Spokesmen for Direct Edge and NYSE Euronext had no comment, and a spokesman for BATS Global Markets, the No. 3 U.S. equities exchange, was not immediately available.
In September, Big Board operator NYSE said it would pay $5 million to settle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after software issues and compliance failures allegedly led to some of the exchange's customers receiving access to market data faster others.
The SEC said at the time that early access to market data can lead to "a real and substantial advantage."
An SEC spokeswoman declined to comment on the UTP issue on Thursday.

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Hedge fund chief Einhorn disappoints, Loeb has big 2012

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Widely followed hedge fund managers Daniel Loeb and David Einhorn ended the year on divergent notes with Loeb's firm handily beating the broader stock market and Einhorn's firm posting a modest single-digit annual gain after performing poorly in December.
For Einhorn, who has moved stock prices by simply opening his mouth, 2012 ended with lackluster returns when his Greenlight Capital lost 2.8 percent in December, a person familiar with the fund's performance said.
Thanks to losses on computer maker and market darling Apple Inc and in the gold market, Einhorn's investors saw their once healthy double-digit gain shrivel late in the year to leave Greenlight Capital with an 8.3 percent increase for 2012.
Einhorn is among a handful of particularly committed Apple investors; he mentioned the company as a favorite pick in May and has told investors that he expected the stock price to hit $700, which it did very briefly in September. In the last three months, however, the price has tumbled about 20 percent and is currently trading at around $531.
With his annual return, Einhorn lagged the broader stock market where the S&P 500 index ended the year with a 13.4 percent gain, excluding dividends. The average global hedge fund gained only 3.17 percent, according to data from Hedge Fund Research.
The disappointing end of the year performance at Greenlight Capital illustrates how even a highly influential manager like Einhorn, who has enjoyed something of a cult following in the $2 trillion hedge fund industry ever since his bearish call on Lehman Brothers in early 2008, can stumble.
For much of the year speculation mounted over which stocks Einhorn would pick or pan with General Motors and Marvell Technology Group getting the thumbs up from the manager.
But Marvell's stock price tumbled at the end of the year after it was ordered to pay $1.17 billion to settle a patent infringement lawsuit likely costing Greenlight Capital millions in losses.
A spokesman for Einhorn declined to comment.
At the same time, Einhorn clearly failed to cash in on supplements company Herbalife where his probing questions on a conference call in May sent the company's share price tumbling and fanned widespread talk that he might be preparing to short the stock price.
But in the end it was William Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management that unveiled its own big short against Herbalife in late December, helping salvage an otherwise lackluster year for the $11 billion fund. Pershing Square gained 5.8 percent in December to end the year up 12.4 percent, an investor in the fund said.
In 2011, it was Einhorn who got a big boost from having said very publicly in October that he was shorting Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. The ensuing plunge in Green Mountain shares helped Greenlight end 2011 up 3 percent, after being in negative territory for much of 2011.
Meanwhile Loeb, known for his sharp tongue and muscle in trying to get some big U.S. companies to shape up their business, had another stellar year, investors in his $9.3 billion firm said.
His Third Point Ultra fund, which uses borrowed money to boost returns, delivered a 33.6 percent gain for the year after climbing 5.4 percent in December. His Third Point Offshore fund gained 21.1 percent after rising 3.6 percent in December.
While Loeb was also hurt by a drop in the price of Apple and gold, he more than made up for it with savvy bets on Greek government bonds and Yahoo.
He told investors in October that he had scooped up certain Greek government bonds for about 17 cents on the dollar, which were part of a so-called "strip" of 20 newly issued bonds that mostly trade bundled together. Loeb said the market was mistakenly pricing the debt to reflect a Greek exit from the euro zone currency area, something Loeb thought was unlikely and something which has not happened.
Third Point was not available for comment.
Even as many managers are still compiling their 2012 numbers, some hedge fund investors have characterized the year as largely subpar with only a handful of big-name managers able to deliver the kind of outsized returns that made the industry famous.
Activist investing strategies, as pursued by Ackman's Pershing Square and Barry Rosenstein's JANA Partners, were among the industry's biggest winners. JANA's Nirvana Fund gained 33.3 percent for the year while its JANA Partners fund returned 23.2 percent, an investor in the fund said.
Also veteran stock picker Leon Cooperman's Omega Advisors, turned out of their downtown Manhattan offices for weeks by Hurricane Sandy, delivered strong returns with a net return of 26 percent, a person invested with Omega said.
Kenneth Griffin's $14 billion Citadel told investors that its flagship Wellington multi-strategy fund gained 3.4 percent in December to end the year up 25.5 percent, someone familiar with the portfolio said.
Steven Cohen's SAC Capital Advisors, with $14 billion under management and long known for its strong and steady returns, ended the year up 12 percent, people familiar with the portfolio said. Och-Ziff Capital Management, a $32 billion favorite with pension funds and governments, reported that its Master Fund climbed 11.18 percent last year.

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Fighting rages around Syrian military air base

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops and rebels fought intense battles Thursday around a strategic air base in the country's north and a suburb of the capital that government forces have been trying to capture since last month, activists and state media said.
The fighting is part of the escalating violence in a Syrian civil war that the United Nations estimates has killed more than 60,000 people since the revolt against President Bashar Assad began in March 2011.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels stormed parts of the Taftanaz air base in the northwestern province of Idlib before withdrawing. The state-run SANA news agency said government forces protecting the base "repelled the terrorists' attempt to attack the airport" and inflicted heavy losses. The Syrian regime routinely refers to rebel forces as "terrorists."
The Observatory said rebels resumed their assault early Thursday in an attempt to capture the base, which has resisted several opposition efforts to take the facility in recent months.
The rebels have been pursuing a strategy of attacking airports and military airfields, targeting five air bases in Idlib and the nearby province of Aleppo, trying to chip away at the government's air power, which poses the biggest obstacle to advances by opposition fighters.
With its troops struggling to make headway — let alone gain ground — against the rebels in the field, the government has increasingly relied on its warplanes and helicopters to target opposition forces.
The Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, reported clashes, air raids and shelling in several suburbs of the capital Damascus, including Daraya, which the regime has been trying to capture from hundreds of opposition fighters for weeks.
The pro-government al-Watan daily said Thursday that the army destroyed rebel strongholds in Daraya and inflicted heavy losses, adding that the area would be declared safe later in the day.
Daraya lies in a key location, and a government takeover there would provide a boost to the regime's defense of Damascus.
The suburb is just a few kilometers (miles) from the strategic military air base of Mazzeh in a western neighborhood of the capital. It borders the Kfar Sousseh neighborhood that is home to the government headquarters, the General Security intelligence agency head office and the Interior Ministry, which was the target of a recent suicide bombing that wounded the interior minister.
Al-Watan said thousands of rebel fighters from the extremists Jabhat al-Nusra group have holed up in Daraya in preparation to storm Damascus. Jabhat al-Nusra, which has been branded a terrorist organization by the U.S. and which Washington claims is affiliated with al-Qaida, has been among the most effective fighting forces on the rebel side.
One of the airstrikes hit a building in the Damascus suburb of Douma. Amateur videos showed the top floor of the building heavily damaged as wounded were rushed away in cars and pickup trucks. Many of the wounded were covered with dust.
People rushed to rescue the wounded in a street that was covered with debris and mangled metal. The Observatory and the LCC said eight people were killed Thursday in Douma and nearby areas. Damascus.
The videos appeared genuine and corresponded with other AP reporting on the events.
In another air raid, the Observatory said dozens of people were killed or wounded in the town of Hayan in Aleppo province.
The Observatory reported that rebels attacked a power station in the central province of Hama. Syrian TV said troops protecting the station repelled the attackers.
The Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees reported fighting and shelling in different areas of the southern province of Daraa, which borders Jordan. Daraa was the region where the anti-Assad uprising began in March 2011.
In Jordan, the U.N. refugee agency said Thursday that there has been a steady increase of Syrians fleeing into Jordan over the past two weeks.
UNHCR reporting officer Danita Topcagic said in the past three days, an average of 1,200-1,300 crossed the border, mainly due to fighting and skyrocketing prices of basic commodities.
Topcagic said refugees told UNHCR that the Free Syrian Army was also encouraging them to flee due to increased fighting in the area. Also, markets and shops are often shuttered making it difficult for people to find food, electricity and water supplies are intermittent and hospitals in many places have shut.
She said that in mid-December a daily average of 757 Syrians had crossed Jordan's northern frontier, while in November the average number daily was around 600.
Syria's civil war has turned more than half a million Syrians into refugees. Most have sought safe haven in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

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Car bomb in Iraq kills 12 Shiite pilgrims

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials say a car bomb has struck a procession of Shiite pilgrims south of Baghdad, killing at least 12 and wounding dozens.
A police official says the bomb exploded late Thursday afternoon in the town of Musayyib, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) south of the Iraqi capital.
He says the bomb hit the pilgrims as they were returning from the holy city of Karbala to commemorate the Arbaeen. The religious event marks the passing of 40 days after the anniversary of the seventh century martyrdom of the revered Shiite saint Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
A hospital official confirmed the casualty toll. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information to reporters.

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Car bomb in Iraq kills 17 Shiite pilgrims

BAGHDAD (AP) — A car bomb explosion tore through a crowd of Shiite pilgrims returning home Thursday from a religious commemoration, killing at least 20 and reinforcing fears of renewed sectarian violence, according to Iraqi officials.
The blast erupted late in the afternoon in the town of Musayyib, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) south of the Iraqi capital. It targeted worshippers returning from the Shiite holy city of Karbala following the climax of the religious commemoration known as Arbaeen.
Children were among the 20 people confirmed killed, according to a police official. He said at least 50 people were wounded.
The explosion went off in the middle of a gathering of pilgrims changing buses coming from Karbala on their way to other destinations in the country, according to police.
A hospital official confirmed the casualty toll. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information to reporters.
Thursday marked the height of Arbaeen, when hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims converged on Karbala to mark the passing of 40 days after the anniversary of the seventh century martyrdom of the revered Shiite saint Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
Shiite pilgrims are one of the favorite targets for Sunni insurgents during Shiite religious events.
Iraqi authorities typically tighten security in Karbala and along routes used by pilgrims, but security forces acknowledge they are unable to prevent all attacks.
As in previous years, the pilgrims practiced the ritual of self-flagellation on the streets, hoisted Shiite religious flags on trees and lamp posts and served food from tents pitched on street corners.
Zaid Mohammed, a 21-year old student, said he walked to Karbala from a nearby city to show his deep respect for Imam Hussein.
"All the people came here to show their gratitude and appreciation for the sacrifices made by Imam Hussein while fighting injustice," he said. "We have decided to confront all the security risks that we might face on our way to Karbala."
State television earlier Thursday aired video of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki walking among the pilgrims.
Thursday's attack came after Iraqi authorities ordered the release of 11 women facing criminal charges and pledged to transfer other women prisoners to jails in their home provinces
The move appeared aimed at addressing a main demand during a wave of protests by the country's Sunni minority against the Baghdad government.
The demonstrations erupted following the arrest of bodyguards assigned to Finance Minister Rafia al-Issawi, one of the central government's most senior Sunni officials. The protests tap into deeper Sunni feelings of perceived discrimination and unfair application of laws against their sect by Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government.
Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, another high-ranking Sunni official, is living in exile in Turkey after he was handed multiple death sentences in absentia for allegedly running death squads, a charge he dismisses as politically motivated.
Justice Ministry spokesman Haider al-Saadi said the families of the imprisoned women can secure their release by paying bail. He added that 13 Sunni women convicted on criminal charges will be transferred from a Baghdad jail to prisons in their home provinces of Anbar, Salahuddin and Ninevah to serve out their sentences.
The detention of female prisoners has been a focus of the demonstrations, but it was not clear whether the decision to release some of them will satisfy the protesters.

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Car bomb in Iraq kills 20 Shiite pilgrims

BAGHDAD (AP) — A car bomb explosion tore through a crowd of Shiite pilgrims returning home Thursday from a religious commemoration, killing at least 20 and reinforcing fears of renewed sectarian violence, according to Iraqi officials.
The blast erupted late in the afternoon in the town of Musayyib, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) south of the Iraqi capital. It targeted worshippers returning from the Shiite holy city of Karbala following the climax of the religious commemoration known as Arbaeen.
Children were among the 20 people confirmed killed, according to a police official. He said at least 50 people were wounded.
The bomb went off in the middle of a gathering of pilgrims changing buses coming from Karbala on their way to other destinations in the country, according to police.
"The explosion shook the whole block and smashed the windows of my house," said teacher Ibrahim Mohammed, who lives nearby. "I ran to the scene of the explosion only to find charred bodies and burning cars. There were women screaming and searching for their missing children."
A hospital official confirmed the casualty toll. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information to reporters.
Thursday marked the height of Arbaeen, when hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims converged on Karbala to mark the passing of 40 days after the anniversary of the seventh century martyrdom of the revered Shiite saint Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
Shiite pilgrims are one of the favorite targets for Sunni insurgents during Shiite religious events.
Iraqi authorities typically tighten security in Karbala and along routes used by pilgrims, but security forces acknowledge they are unable to prevent all attacks.
As in previous years, the pilgrims practiced the ritual of self-flagellation on the streets, hoisted Shiite religious flags on trees and lamp posts and served food from tents pitched on street corners.
Zaid Mohammed, a 21-year old student, said he walked to Karbala from a nearby city to show his deep respect for Imam Hussein.
"All the people came here to show their gratitude and appreciation for the sacrifices made by Imam Hussein while fighting injustice," he said. "We have decided to confront all the security risks that we might face on our way to Karbala."
State television earlier Thursday aired video of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki walking among the pilgrims.
Thursday's attack came after Iraqi authorities ordered the release of 11 women facing criminal charges and pledged to transfer other women prisoners to jails in their home provinces
The move appeared aimed at addressing a main demand during a wave of protests by the country's Sunni minority against the Baghdad government.
The demonstrations erupted following the arrest of bodyguards assigned to Finance Minister Rafia al-Issawi, one of the central government's most senior Sunni officials. The protests tap into deeper Sunni feelings of perceived discrimination and unfair application of laws against their sect by Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government.
Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, another high-ranking Sunni official, is living in exile in Turkey after he was handed multiple death sentences in absentia for allegedly running death squads, a charge he dismisses as politically motivated.
Justice Ministry spokesman Haider al-Saadi said the families of the imprisoned women can secure their release by paying bail. He added that 13 Sunni women convicted on criminal charges will be transferred from a Baghdad jail to prisons in their home provinces of Anbar, Salahuddin and Ninevah to serve out their sentences.
The detention of female prisoners has been a focus of the demonstrations, but it was not clear whether the decision to release some of them will satisfy the protesters.

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