Iraqis crossing Syrian border tortured and shot

Iraqi Shias 'tortured and shot'
The mutilated bodies of 10 Iraqi Shia Muslim pilgrims have been found in the desert near the town of Qaim, close to the Syrian border, Iraqi police say.

They are thought to have been killed as they travelled back from Syria.

The murdered pilgrims had apparently been blindfolded, tied up and shot in the head, police said. The corpses bore marks of torture.

In other violence, seven people died in two suicide bombings in the northern town of Sinjar, officials said.

The dead Shia pilgrims are thought to be from southern Iraq.

Iraqi officials said they believed the Shias were stopped as they were on their way back from visiting a religious shrine in Syria several days ago.

They were attacked in the area where the US military carried out a major operation against insurgents earlier this month.

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