Car bombers kill Shiites

 Baghdad (AP):

Three suicide car bombers struck Shiite pilgrims south of Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 51 people and wounding more than 180 in a third straight day of attacks across Iraq.

The string of assaults, reminiscent of the bloodiest days of the Iraq war, shattered a two-month lull and presented a major challenge to the new government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who must soon decide whether to ask United States forces to stay after the end of the year.

Yesterday's attacks were particularly significant because most of the victims were Shiite civilians, the government's core constituency. A lawmaker allied with anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose support for al-Maliki was crucial in enabling him to remain prime minister, accused government security forces of "not acting in a professional manner" to protect the pilgrims.

"I expect the attacks will continue ... due to the negligence of the security forces," the lawmaker, Hakim al-Zamili, told The Associated Press.

The attacks took place at mid-afternoon at three security checkpoints, one north and the two others south of Karbala, where millions of Shiite pilgrims are converging for rituals marking the seventh century death of Imam Hussein. He was a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who was slain near the city by Muslim rivals.

Ali Khamas, a pilgrim from the Shiite neighbourhood of Sadr City in Baghdad, said he saw a car speeding towards one of the checkpoints, its driver refusing to stop despite warnings shouted by Iraqi soldiers.