The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Baghdad

A suicide bomber struck Shiites as worshippers prepared Thursday for their most important holiday, killing at least 11 at a mosque in violent Diyala province - one day after a similar attack by a woman in a nearby village.

Police and eyewitnesses said one of the victims had intercepted the bomber when he saw him making his way through the crowd. "Stranger, stranger," he shouted as he grabbed the bomber, who instantly detonated the blast.

A spike in bombings in recent weeks is chipping away at security gains made over the past six months, when levels of violence dropped nationwide. Many of the attacks have targeted Sunnis who have turned against the main insurgent group, al-Qaida in Iraq.

Authorities fear the Shiite religious events - marking the death of a 7th century Shiite saint - could increasingly fall into the cross-hairs of Sunni extremists.

Iraqi officials stepped up security across much of the country to protect the Shiite processions for the holiday period, culminating in events known as Ashoura. In Baghdad, a 48-hour ban on heavy vehicles went into effect, and Iraqi army troops and police were out in greater numbers on patrols and checkpoints.

The heaviest security was in the holy city of Karbala south of Baghdad, where some 30,000 troops watched over hundreds of thousands of pilgrims performing Ashoura rites.