Thousands of Iraqis thronged northern Baghdad today for the funeral procession of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim, a top Shi'ite Muslim cleric slain by a car bomb which also killed scores of his followers.
Mourners, including women in black, packed into the streets around the city's Mousa al-Kadhim mosque, where Hakim's remains had lain overnight.
They chanted and beat their chests as the coffin, draped in a large black cloth, was carried through the crowd and then placed on a truck, guarded by men with automatic rifles.
The funeral procession will take Hakim's remains to several sites revered by Shi'ite Muslims, ending on Tuesday in the holy city of Najaf where he will be buried.
The cleric was killed on Friday in the deadliest attack in Iraq since the end of the war that ousted Saddam Hussein.
Hakim had advised Shi'ites, who make up about 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million population, to pursue a policy of cautious cooperation with the country's US-led occupying authorities.
Hospital officials said yesterday the death toll from the attack was at least 95. Many more people were wounded by the bomb, which exploded just after Friday prayers outside the Imam Ali mosque, one of the most sacred sites in Shi'ite Islam.
Many Shi'ites have blamed the attack on diehard supporters of Saddam, who repressed the Shi'ite community when he was in power. Some analysts have also suggested Shi'ites opposed to Hakim's moderate political positions could be to blame.
Three people have been detained over the bombing, a senior US military officer told reporters yesterday. He gave few details about them but said two had indicated they were from the southern city of Basra and had been visiting the grave of a relative.