BAGHDAD, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Iraqi police announced Monday they had arrested 50 people in two deadly bombings that killed 68 people, CNN reported.
There were 52 deaths in Najaf's car bombing Sunday and 16 in another bombing about 50 miles away in Karbala, both cities considered holy by the country's Shiite Muslim majority.
Monday, Gov. Adnan Zurfi said 49 of those arrested were Iraqi and another was an "Arab."
Meanwhile, Shiite cleric Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum said Shiites were committed to peaceful participation in next month's election, the BBC said.
One of Najaf's leading Shiite clerics, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Said al-Hakim, also denounced Sunday's bombings, saying they aimed to "incite sectarian sedition" and God would "avenge and compensate" the victims.
"The Shiites are committed not to respond with violence, which will only lead to violence," al-Hakim said. "We are determined on elections."
