Three Indians among 14 pilgrims slain in Iraq

New Delhi, Sep 2 (UNI) Three Indian pilgrims and eleven Pakistanis were today gunned down by unidentified insurgents in Iraq while they were on their way to Karbala, the place of martyrdom of Imaam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed.

All the three Indians hailed from Andhra Pradesh and were identified as Mohi-ud-din Baig and Mohammed Ahmed Ali(40), both from Hyderabad, and Jaffer Mashaddi(60) from Visakhapatanam.

Describing the incident as ''unfortunate'', Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed here said people continued to go to Iraq despite the travel advisory issued by the government in 2004 after the kidnapping of three Indian truck drivers there.

Officials of the External Affairs Ministry said the Indian embassy in Baghdad and other government agencies were in touch with all authorities concerned to ensure the safe and early return home of other Indian pilgrims.

A report from Hyderabad quoted All India Seerat-e-Zehra Committee General Secretary Ali Raza as saying there were 15 pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh who visited Karbala. The terrorists freed the women pilgrims and killed the three males accompanying them.

Mr Raza said AISeZC would be organising an all-party condolence and protest meeting at Darul Shifa play grounds here tomorrow.

Meanwhile, a Reuters report said US President George W Bush in his weekly radio address, told Americans that Iraq was not in civil war, despite sectarian fighting in Baghdad and a grim Pentagon report that found the violence was spreading.

''Our commanders and diplomats on the ground believe that Iraq has not descended into a civil war,'' Mr Bush said. ''They report that only a small number of Iraqis are engaged in sectarian violence, while the overwhelming majority want peace and a normal life in a unified country.'' An official at the al-Hussein hospital in the Shi'ite holy city of Kerbala, where the bodies were taken yesterday, said the 14 men had their hands bound and had been shot in the head. Some had been tortured and one was partially decapitated.

Assessing the situation in Iraq over the past three months, a 63-page Pentagon report yesterday said attacks rose by 24 per cent, Iraqi casualties soared by 51 per cent and the violence was extending north beyond Baghdad.

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