BAGHDAD -- A senior Iraqi official close to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says two suspects in a bus massacre that killed 22 Shiite pilgrims this week have been released for lack of evidence.
The senior official says six suspects were still being held in Baghdad. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
Speaking to reporters Saturday, al-Maliki dismissed fears that Monday's attack in Iraq's Sunni-dominated Anbar province would ignite sectarian violence.
He said Sunnis and Shiites were killed but did not provide details.
Hussein Shadhan al-Aboudi, a local lawmaker from Karbala, where the pilgrims were from, said only Shiites were aboard the bus but the gunmen also killed a Sunni motorist that day.
