Suicide blast targeting Shiite pilgrims in Iraq kills 43

A SUICIDE bomber has killed 53 people in an attack on Shiite devotees at a pilgrimage in Iraq.

The apparent sectarian attack in southern Iraq yesterday cast a pall over the climax of a Shiite pilgrimage that draws hundreds of thousands from around the world. (more…)

Blasts across Afghanistan target Shi’ites, 59 dead

A suicide attack killed dozens of Shi’ite Muslims at a crowded Kabul shrine on Tuesday, and four others died in a smaller blast in a key northern city, in the worst sectarian violence Afghanistan has seen since the fall of the Taliban. (more…)

Hezbollah Chief in Rare Public Address in Lebanon

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement made a rare public appearance at a Beirut rally on Tuesday to mark the Shiite holy day of Ashoura, saying his militant group is acquiring more weapons and members every day.

Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said Hezbollah was “here to stay” and would never compromise on its weapons. (more…)

Lebanese Shiites mark the day of Ashura- pictures

Tens of thousands of Hezbollah supporters lined the streets of Beirut’s southern suburbs, holding pictures of Nasrallah and Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to mark holy day of Ashura, responding in force to calls by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah .

Nasrallah urged his supporters during his speeches (more…)

Iran arrested several foreigners during Ashura protests

Iran has said several foreign nationals were arrested during anti-government demonstrations last week.
Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi said those detained had been “pursuing propaganda and psychological warfare”. He did not give their nationalities.
Some 300 of the 500 people arrested remain in detention after mass protests in Tehran on 27 December during the Shia Muslim festival of Ashura. BBC

Nasrallah has no intention of ‘Lebanonizing’ Hezbollah

Nasrallah made four mistakes in his Ashura speech. He, once again, overstepped his boundaries in the context of the Lebanese system of sectarian compromise by taking an entire religious community to task when no one asked for his counsel. He addressed, therefore implicitly criticized, Christians in general, forgetting that his beef was allegedly only with a minority that once sided with Israel. He sounded threatening. And he blithely ignored the fact that when he told the Christians to be Lebanese above all, he had no credibility to do so inasmuch as he and his organization come across as being Iranian above all.

The Ashoura speech once again served to remind us that Nasrallah has no intention of “Lebanonizing” Hezbollah; rather he is seeking to mold Lebanon in Hezbollah ’s image. It won’t work, and the secretary general, for the umpteenth time, has overestimated his capacities. Someone should have reminded him that Ashura is, above all, a commemoration of self-sacrifice, in other words a day to embrace humility. The Daily Star

Ashura ceremony in Lebanon in pictures

The Lebanese Muslim Shiites celebrated Ashura, which is the 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar.

Iranian opposition clash with governmnt forces

Iranian opposition sources say government forces have clashed with anti-government demonstrators who gathered in the Iranian capital during a Shi’ite Muslim holiday.
Witnesses say some of the demonstrators have been beaten or arrested, and that riot police smashed the windows of passing cars.
Ashura ceremonies culminate Sunday.
During Ashura, Shi’ite worshipers mourn the seventh-century killing of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.