At least 40 Shiite pilgrims killed in Iraq
KARBALA, Iraq, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A suicide bomber killed at least 40 Muslim pilgrims and wounded 60 others at they traveled to Karbala for a Shiite holiday Sunday, the Interior Ministry said.
An Interior Ministry official said the attack occurred in Iskandariya as Shiite faithful traveled to Karbala for the festival of Arbaeen, adding that women and children were among those killed,CNN reported.
The Shiite festival marks the conclusion of 40 days of mourning for Imam Hussien, the grandson of the Muslim prophet Mohammad.
Earlier in the day, three people were killed and more than 30 were injured when militants attacked another group of pilgrims in southern Baghdad. The attacks came as Iraqi officials expressed concern for pilgrims' safety in the area, CNN said.
Also Sunday, Kirkuk police told the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA an unnamed Awakening Council member was killed when a car bomb exploded near a patrol station monitored by members loyal to the group.
A double suicide bomb attack in Fallujah killed Sheik Ibrahim Mutayri al-Mohammedi and his aide Saturday. Police officials said five al-Qaida members also died in the explosion, the BBC said Sunday.
Nader says he'll run for president
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Consumer advocate Ralph Nader Sunday announced he will run for U.S. as an independent, CNN reported.
Nader ran for president as an independent in 2004 and as the Green Party candidate in 2000.
Critics blame him for taking votes away from the Democratic Party nominee in 2000, Vice President Al Gore, helping Republican George W. Bush to be elected.
More bodies feared at former orphanage
ST. CLEMENT, Jersey, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Police on the island of Jersey Sunday sought more bodies at a former orphanage where a child's remains were found, Sky News said.
The child's skeletal remains were found Saturday at Haut de la Garenne in St. Clement on the island off the coast of Normandy, France, where authorities had been excavating the site for four days as a part of an investigation into allegations of widespread abuse at the premises, mostly during the 1970s and 1980s.
The former orphanage is currently being used as a youth hostel, Sky News said.
Police had no further information on the remains and "could not rule out" the possibility that more remains will be found, a spokeswoman said.
"It is not thought the remains are recent but we don't know at this time how long they have been there," she said.
Turkey buries first dead in PKK battle
ANKARA, Turkey, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Mourners gathered in Ankara Sunday for the first Turkish troops killed in an incursion into northern Iraq targeting Kurdish separatists.
Turkey launched an invasion into northern Iraq Friday targeting members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, known by their Kurdish acronym, PKK. Turkey says rebels loyal to the PKK killed at least 30,000 in southeast Turkey since 1984.
The United States and European Union list the PKK as a terrorist group, though both parties have urged Turkey to exercise restraint in the latest incursion.
Turkey said seven of its troops were killed in action, but PKK sources claim that is a very conservative estimate, Euronews.net reported Sunday.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan called the incursion limited in scale, saying "Our armed forces will come back in the shortest time possible as soon as they achieve their objectives" against the PKK.
"The target, purpose, size and parameters of this operation are limited," Erdogan said on Turkish television. "Our armed forces will come back in the shortest time possible as soon as they achieve their objectives" against the PKK.
