Dozens killed in Iraq gunbattles

At least 52 people have been killed in gunbattles in the Iraqi holy city of Kerbala during an annual religious ceremony.

The fierce fighting forced hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to flee the city that holds two of Shia Islam's holiest shrines of Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has ordered his Mehdi Army militia to suspend its activities for up to six months and his movement to shut its offices for three days, a top aide said.

Sirens of police cars and ambulances could be heard wailing throughout Kerbala and police loudspeakers ordered pilgrims out of the ancient centre.

Police sources said Iraqi police and soldiers had seized control of the city centre from the shrines' guards.

Fighting, apparently among Shia factions in the holy city, also left 206 people wounded, a senior security official in Baghdad said.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims had gathered to commemorate the ninth century birth of Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi, the last of 12 imams that Shias revere as saints.

The pilgrimage, like other annual rites, had become a show of force for a Shia community repressed under former leader Saddam Hussein.

The fighting also spread to Baghdad, where police said at least five people were killed in clashes between rival Shia militia.

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