Sadr's Militia Blamed for Deadly Shiite-on-Shiite Melee

"There is no evidence against the Sadr movement," he said. "The people who started it are linked to the Supreme Council, who are linked to Iranian intelligence. They get their salaries from Iran. Their homes are in Iran."

A preliminary draft of the parliament committee's findings, made available to The Post, avoids naming those considered responsible. The report found that the shooting initially "came from the roofs of the high hotels and buildings, not from the holy shrine security force," but that it resulted in a "huge exchange of fire" between the two sides.

The situation deteriorated when the crowd of pilgrims, mostly young men, broke into mob violence. The report describes a poorly trained, underarmed security force that failed to communicate well with its leaders, police and military officials in Baghdad and that was incapable of protecting the pilgrims.

It took about nine hours for Iraqi army reinforcements in Baghdad to reach Karbala, a 60-mile journey. About 1,000 police officers were guarding the shrines, but only 360 of them were armed, the report said.

"The committee is assured of the necessity to strengthen the role of the legal and security forces, to dissolve all the militias and prohibit carrying weapons outside the law," the report said.

Special correspondents Zaid Sabah and Dalya Hassan in Baghdad and Saad Sarhan in Najaf contributed to this report.