Blindfolded detainees sit in an Iraqi army base in Basra, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008.
Shiite pilgrims crowd as performers re-enact the Battle of Karbala during Ashoura observances in Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008.
Devout Shiites cut their heads with blades during an Ashoura procession to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein in Basra, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008.
People carry the coffins of two Iraqi army officers killed in clashes in Basra, during a funeral procession in Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008.
People take part of a Festival of Muharram procession in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 18, 2008.
People beat their chests as a sign of grief for Imam Hussein in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008.
A woman fills her lamp with kerosene at her home in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008. Baghdad continues to shiver through a cold spell that has drawn renewed attention to the country's everyday miseries: an electrical grid that remains spotty and a shortage of kerosene for home heaters.
Women grieve during a burial of victims of the Anfal Campaign in Dokan, about 190 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008. Bodies of victims of the Operation Anfal, a former Iraqi regime 1980's crackdown that killed nearly 200,000 Kurdish civilians and guerrillas, were put in the ground Thursday in Dokan, after being excavated from various mass graves around the country.
Iraqi police officers scan rooftops for possible snipers during a rally in central Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 18, 2008.
A woman exits a mosque in Baghdad's Kazimiyah neighborhood, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008. The U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the reduction in attacks across Iraq and called for similar improvements in the political arena.
Shiite believers portraying the Battle of Karbala take part in a procession in Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008.
A boy buys food at a grocery shop in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008.
A man portraying Imam Abbas, the brother of Imam Hussein, takes part in a reenactment in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008. Iraqi Shiites are marking the Festival of Muharram, that commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Muhammad, at the battle of Karbala in the year 680 A.D.
A woman prays in a church in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008. About 3 per cent of Iraq's estimated population of 26 million are Christians.
Workers clean up debris after a roadside bomb explosion in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008. Two successive roadside bombs went off in Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood Tuesday, wounding eight people including three policemen, police said.
A woman sits next to an Iraqi policeman in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008. Iraqi Shiites are marking the Festival of Muharram, that commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Muhammad, at the battle of Karbala in the year 680 A.D.
Devout Shiites beat their chests as a sign of grief for Imam Hussein, in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008.
Iraqis gather around the tomb of Imam Abbas, brother of Imam Hussein, in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 14, 2008.
An Iraqi army soldier searches a child as part of the security measures in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 14, 2008.
Iraqis attend prayer in front of the Imam Abbas shrine in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 14, 2008.