A major Shi'ite religious ceremony passed off without incident today amid heavy security in the sacred Iraqi city of Kerbala. However, there were a further 15 killings reported as sectarian attacks throughout the country continued.
With Iraq on the brink of a civil war, nearly 10,000 troops and police guarded hundreds of thousands of pilgrims gathered for Arbain.
The annual mourning ritual was banned under Saddam Hussein and has been targeted by Sunni Arab suicide bombers in the past
The ceremony coincidentally took place on the third anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq that led to the deposing of Saddam.
The country remains in political stalemate as Shi'ite, Kurdish and Sunni Arab leaders continue to struggle to form a national unity government. Despite calls for urgency in agreeing a cabinet, senior leaders will not now meet for the rest of the week due to public holidays and travel.
Instead of celebrating the success of their Iraq venture, Washington and its allies have been on the defensive, insisting that Operation Iraqi Freedom launched three years ago to the day will end in victory, although when is less certain than ever.
"The security situation in Iraq is serious ... and more people sadly have lost their lives than we predicted three years ago," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw acknowledged.
"Transiting from tyranny to democracy is never smooth or easy," another of the US's main allies in the war, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said in an article in the Washington Postthere had been much suffering and "the road ahead will be tough". But, he added: "The world should not falter at such a crucial stage in history."
Meanwhile, the killings continued.
In the capital Baghdad, three policemen and three prisoners were killed when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle. A policeman and two prisoners were wounded in the attack.
Elsewhere in the city, a former district commissioner and a university lecturer were shot dead outside their houses in separate incidents in the city.
And in what appeared to be sectarian executions, a Baghdad hospital received six bodies, including that of a woman, with gunshot wounds. Just outside the city, four pilgrims were wounded in a gun attack in Mahmudiya.
There were attacks throughout the country with one policeman killed and two wounded when a suicide car bomb exploded near their checkpoint in Baquba, 40 miles north of Baghdad.
Further north, a car bomb wounded two policemen near Mosul and a prison employee was also shot dead in the city. Gunmen also killed Raad al-Asali, the director of oil products, as he was leaving his home in Mosul.
In Jarf al-Sakkhar, gunmen killed two security force members protecting oil facilities south of Baghdad.
West of the capital in Fallujah, gunmen in army uniforms killed a man and wounded his wife when they attacked their apartment.
The only potentially positive development on the horizon currently, are talks expected this week between neighbouring Iran and the United States. The Iranians, who have a strong influence on the Shi'ites, have agreed to form a national security council representing all political blocs in parliament.
Political sources said the agreement reflected efforts to curb the power of the Shi'ite Islamists and provide a way out of the impasse in talks on a unity government.
Agencies