AQI female bomber planning to attack pilgrims arrested

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: Security forces arrested a female suicide bomber from Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) who was planning to attack Shiite pilgrims in the Ashuraa processions in central Baaquba city on Friday, a security source in Diala said. “The AQI female bomber, of the name Rajaa Abbas, was arrested in a military operation in al-Tahreer neighborhood, central Baaquba, on charges of planning to attack Imam Hussein processions during the Ashuraa pilgrimage,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. Baaquba, the capital city of Diala province, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad. Meanwhile, the source added, forces from the Diala Internal Affairs and Security Agency seized a cache of munitions and improvised explosive devices in al-Shakireen village, Abi Saida district, al-Muqadadiya, (45 km) east of Baaquba. Thousands of Shiite Muslims from all over Iraq and neighboring countries would head for the shrine of Imam al-Hussein Ibn Ali in the holy Shiite city of Karbala for the Ashuraa, or the 10th of Muharram on the Muslim Hegira calendar. Ashuraa commemorates the slaughter of Imam al-Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, and his family and companions in the battle of Taf in Karbala in the Hegira year 61 (680 in the Gregorian calendar). The holy Shiite city of Karbala lies 108 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (S) 37