THE headless bodies of 15 people were discovered at a disused military base south of Baghdad yesterday, the apparent victims of the latest attack against Iraq’s majority Shia population.

Iraqi soldiers made the discovery after reports that a group of pilgrims had disappeared on their way to the Shia holy cities of Karbala and Najaf. The bodies, of men and women, were discovered in a raid on the old Hatin army base, now believed to be used by insurgents. The base is close to the town of Latifiyah, at the southern point of the so-called “triangle of death” where the Sunni central region abuts the Shia south.

Shias, and Shia pilgrims in particular, have been targeted by the insurgent group led by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in his attempt to start a civil war between the Shias and Sunnis.

The discovery came as the American military said that it was seriously considering abandoning the notorious Abu Ghraib prison complex after incessant insurgent attacks have made it one of the most dangerous places in Iraq.

The plan to move prisoners came as new figures showed that a pre-election drive against alleged insurgents has pushed the military prison system to breaking-point.

On the western road out of Baghdad towards the restive Sunni town of Fallujah, Abu Ghraib prison has been repeatedly targeted by insurgents, sometimes two or three times a day. In the worst attack last April, 22 prisoners died and more than 90 were injured in a barrage of mortars that hit tents pitched in the prison courtyard to contain the overspill from the cells.

The first serious suggestion that Abu Ghraib should be abandoned came last year with the emergence of photographs documenting the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American guards. During Saddam Hussein’s regime, the prison was used for the torture of political prisoners and many felt the echoes were so strong that the prison should be destroyed.

The American military authorities said then that there was no alternative location to keep the detainees but under the current plan, those suspected of being insurgents would be relocated to an extended high-security facility at the airport, where top members of the former regime and other “high-value detainees” are held.

The prison would then be turned over to Iraqi authorities for the detention of common criminals who they believe would be less likely to attract insurgent attack. Attacks on Abu Ghraib began in August 2003 but soared in the months after the abuse scandal broke.

Abu Ghraib has also been the scene of daily protests in the past week against overcrowding at the prison after an aggressive detention campaign in the run-up to the January 30 elections. The Americans can detain individuals at the prison if they merely believe them to be a threat.

With 3,200 inmates, Abu Ghraib has surpassed the 2,500 people it was designed to incarcerate. Camp Bucca in the south has 5,750 detainees, 550 more than its capacity. Camp Cropper, the airport facility which holds 110 detainees, including Saddam Hussein, is the only prison that is not yet overpopulated.

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