U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Saturday and stated she saw no sign the country was sliding back into sectarian warfare despite recent attacks. According to Reuters, Clinton landed in a military transport plane a day after two female suicide bombers blew themselves up outside a Shi'ite Muslim shrine in Baghdad, killing 60 people.
The attack followed major bloodshed too on Thursday and at least 150 people were killed over the two days.
Asked if the latest bloodshed could rekindle the sectarian conflict that raged in Iraq three years ago, Clinton told reporters: "I see no signs of that at this time. "I think the suicide bombings ... are, in an unfortunately tragic way, a signal that the rejectionists fear that Iraq is going in the right direction," she said.
Meanwhile, Iran has closed a border crossing with Iraq for Iranians after many pilgrims from the Islamic Republic were killed in the recent bomb attacks in the neighbouring country, official media reported on Saturday. "After ... bombings in Iraq and the martyrdom of a number of Iranian pilgrims, crossing the Khosravi border for Iranians has been banned until further notice," the official IRNA news agency said. State radio carried a similar report.
