An attack by a female suicide bomber near a Shia shrine has killed at least 41 people in the central Iraqi city of Karbala.
The attack came as US Vice President Dick Cheney visited Baghdad on a surprise trip and met several US and Iraqi leaders to discuss the recent improvement in security across the country.
At least 50 people were wounded in the blast which occurred near the revered Imam Hussein shrine.
Witnesses said the attacker was a female suicide bomber.
Several ambulances and police vehicles were ferrying victims to hospital following the blast which occurred around 100 metres from the shrine, located in the centre of the city.
Soon after the attack Karbala police imposed an indefinite curfew in the central parts of the city.
Insurgents have targeted the Shia shrine city on several occassions in the past five years.
