HUNDREDS of thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims marched to an Iraqi holy shrine yesterday to mark the death of one of their most revered saints, chanting, swaying, even cutting their bodies in an emotional ritual that had been banned for decades under Saddam Hussein.

Up to two million Shi'ites from Iraq, Iran and other countries were converging on the city of Karbala - site of the 7th Century martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the prophet Muhammad. The annual pilgrimage, which marks the anniversary of the end of the traditional 40-day mourning period, ends tomorrow.

The presence of a vast crowd of pilgrims attests to the power and the potential of the majority Shi'ite community, which was long repressed by Saddam's mostly Sunni Muslim government.

The Shi'ites set aside bitter internal differences for the rituals, which became a celebration of the new Shi'ite freedom.

Shi'ites have been setting up local administrations to re-establish order, and religious leaders have emerged as key sources of political power, especially in southern Iraq.

At least one leading Shi'ite figure has called for the Karbala gathering to be used as a protest against US domination of Iraq, and some pilgrims in Karbala held anti-US signs.

But Brigadier General Vincent Brooks, deputy operations director at US Central Command, noted that pilgrims were "participating in something that would not have been possible before. And thus far it has occurred without any significant incidents".