No attacks against Shiite pilgrims occurred in the last several days , they said . Peace is a marked contrast to last 8 days of Ashura celebrations . Ashura marks birth of Hussein , the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed . Shiites gained the upper hand politically after Hussein was overthrown by a U.S.-led invasion in 2003 . Nearly a thousand pilgrims died in a Baghdad bridge stampede in 2005 .
No attacks against Shiite pilgrims occurred in the last several days , they said . Peace is a marked contrast to last 8 days of Ashura celebrations . Ashura marks birth of Hussein , the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed . Nearly a thousand pilgrims died in a Baghdad bridge stampede in 2005 .