Anti-Saudi tide rises in Iraq

But Saudi-based analyst Adel al-Toraifi has a different take: "I think it is radical Shiite elements loyal to Iran and Syria who are doing this to blame the Saudis so as to take the pressure off themselves from the Americans."

On Wednesday, US and Iraqi forces killed at least 30 militiamen that were facilitating the transport of explosives into Iraq from Iran and sending Iraqis to Iran for "terrorist training," said the US military. Twelve other members of what the US calls "Special Groups" were arrested in a overnight raid in Sadr City, the Shiite slum in Baghdad.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki arrived in Tehran on Wednesday to discuss security and economic cooperation with Iran. Business, diplomatic, cultural, and religious ties are rapidly deepening between both countries.

Mr. Maliki even vowed Monday to crack down on the Mujahideen-e Khalq Organization, an Iranian dissident group once nurtured by Saddam Hussein during his long war with Iran's clerical regime but is now under the protection of US forces in Diyala Province northeast of Baghdad.

One Saudi fatwa allegedly called for the destruction of the mausoleum of Imam Hussein in Karbala, south of Baghdad. The violent death of the third imam and his companions in battle against the caliph's army in AD 680 marked the schism between Sunnis and Shiites. The intensity of the standoff over the centuries tended to track regional political upheaval.

And Iraq authorities are taking the threats seriously, especially in light of the bombing of the twin minarets at the Askariya shrine in Samarra north of Baghdad in June that followed an attack on its dome in February 2006.

A three-day ban on vehicle traffic starting Wednesday has been imposed in Baghdad with extra checkpoints springing up all over the city.

The annual pilgrimage to Kadhimiya

In Kadhimiya Tuesday, the emphasis was on displaying faith.

Tents were set up all along the main market street leading to Bab el-Mrad (Gate of Need), the entrance of the dazzling shrine with its glistening twin golden domes and its four minarets.

In one tent, Mahdi al-Kadhimi and his fellow Kadhimiya merchants have stacked bags of rice and beans that will be used to cook free meals for the weary pilgrims, many of whom traveled for days on foot from all over Iraq. Distributing food, water, and tea to pilgrims is considered a blessed act.

Giant speakers fill the air with the sound of Shiite laments intended to infuse spirituality and fervor to the occasion.

A wooden cage with dangling chains, and mannequins posing as Abbasyid-era sentries, standing guard is supposed to replicate Imam al-Kadhim's time in captivity. He is depicted bearded and shackled in a colorful banner pinned to the inside of the cage.

All of these visual displays of Shiite faith and its veneration of shrines are considered acts of blasphemy by puritan Sunni Islam that reigns in Saudi Arabia.

"To each his own," says Mr. Kadhimi shrugging off talk of the new Saudi fatwas.

At the shrine's gate, police search everyone. In addition to government forces, Sadr's militiamen play an important role in securing the area. Heavily armed men in black shirts and military style khaki pants roam the streets. Mr. Araji, the local leader who was once detained by US forces, says they are not from the movement's Mahdi Army militia but are personal guards of visiting parliamentarians from the same movement.

On Sunday, an altercation between one of these armed men and an Iraqi soldier degenerated into a firefight that killed a woman pilgrim, according to Araji, who was caught in the crossfire.

As pilgrims approach the inner sanctum of the shrine with its vast marble esplanade many, entranced by the moment, fall down on their knees in tears.

Adel Said and his wife hold the hands of their little children.

"These anti-Shiite fatwas are not new, they have been around for hundreds of years, I think some people may be agitating to stir up trouble for political gains," says Mr. Said, who plans to come again to the shrine on Thursday without his family as part of a massive procession that will leave Sadr City to the east on foot at dawn.

Rasheed Abou-Alsamh contributed from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

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