.- The death toll from a suicide attack yesterday against a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims arrived on Sunday at 36, Iraqi officials said Sunday, one of the most severe attacks against that group so far this year. The victims of Saturday's attack were pilgrims who came from a ceremony at the al-Askari mosque in the former insurgent stronghold of Samarra, north of Baghdad.
The attack showed that the insurgents have renewed their attempts to incite violence between Shiites and Sunnis, after a lull. Medical officials and police said there were 64 injured by suicide bombing, which occurred after the ceremonies in memory of the death of a revered religious figure of the ninth century, buried in the mosque.
No one had claimed responsibility for the attack, although the method is common in the operations of al-Qaida and its Sunni allies, who consider Shiites heretics. The mosque, 95 kilometers (60 miles) from Baghdad, has been the scene of other attacks. In 2006, an attack by Sunni insurgents destroyed its golden dome and unleashed a wave of reprisals that led to the brink of civil war.
Meanwhile, in Mosul, Abdul Amir Majid, a laborer, 31, died after catching fire on Saturday night, officials and relatives. Similar self-immolation have occurred in other Arab countries in recent weeks in protest against unemployment and authoritarianism. The first, which led to the death of a young Tunisian, was the start of the revolt that overthrew the country's authoritarian president.
Iraq, one of the few democratic countries in the Middle East, has not been as widespread protests that rocked Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, but groups of demonstrators took to the streets to demand better public services and security. 
The attack showed that the insurgents have renewed their attempts to incite violence between Shiites and Sunnis, after a lull. Medical officials and police said there were 64 injured by suicide bombing, which occurred after the ceremonies in memory of the death of a revered religious figure of the ninth century, buried in the mosque.
No one had claimed responsibility for the attack, although the method is common in the operations of al-Qaida and its Sunni allies, who consider Shiites heretics. The mosque, 95 kilometers (60 miles) from Baghdad, has been the scene of other attacks. In 2006, an attack by Sunni insurgents destroyed its golden dome and unleashed a wave of reprisals that led to the brink of civil war.
Meanwhile, in Mosul, Abdul Amir Majid, a laborer, 31, died after catching fire on Saturday night, officials and relatives. Similar self-immolation have occurred in other Arab countries in recent weeks in protest against unemployment and authoritarianism. The first, which led to the death of a young Tunisian, was the start of the revolt that overthrew the country's authoritarian president.
Iraq, one of the few democratic countries in the Middle East, has not been as widespread protests that rocked Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, but groups of demonstrators took to the streets to demand better public services and security.
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