world

BAGHDAD - With at least 51 dead from gunfire between rival Shiite militias Tuesday in the holy city of Karbala during a religious festival, the government ordered the Iraqi Army's Scorpion Brigade to impose order and begin moving an estimated 1 million pilgrims out of the city.

More than 200 people were injured in the panic that ensued when Mahdi Army militia members loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr battled the Badr Organization, the armed wing of the rival Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.

Amid hours of fighting, several vehicles and a hotel for pilgrims were set ablaze, and terrified pilgrims who had been praying at two shrines were trapped inside as clashes erupted. Witnesses said buses that had brought pilgrims were bullet-shattered and bloodstained.

The government forces in Karbala and other towns in southern Iraq are dominated by the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and its armed wing, the Badr organization. Many Badr fighters are veterans trained by Iran when they lived there as exiles under Saddam Hussein's regime.

Tensions between the Mahdi Army and the Badr group have been simmering for months. Both are vying for control of the overwhelmingly Shiite regions of central and southern Iraq.

Two provincial governors belonging to the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council were assassinated this month; Sadrists denied involvement.

The Scorpion Brigade imposed an indefinite curfew on Karbala by nightfall, fearing that the tensions could escalate as both sides vied for control of the streets. The violence appeared to spread to other cities, although attacks on mosques and offices linked to the Badr group were on a much smaller scale.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad interjected himself into Iraq's problems by boldly declaring Tuesday that U.S. political influence in Iraq is "collapsing rapidly" and said his government is ready to help fill any power vacuum.

The hard-line leader also defended Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a fellow Shiite who has been harshly criticized by U.S. politicians for his unsuccessful efforts to reconcile Iraq's Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.

"The political power of the occupiers is collapsing rapidly," Ahmadinejad said at a news conference in Tehran, referring to U.S. troops in Iraq. "We are prepared to fill the gap, with the help of neighbors and regional friends like Saudi Arabia, and with the help of the Iraqi nation."

Saudi Arabia is ruled by Sunnis. Ahmadinejad did not elaborate on his remarks.

McClatchy News Service, Associated Press, and Washington Post contributed to this report.