KARBALA: Pilgrims left the Shiite holy city of Karbala on Saturday after the peaceful end of a major festival where their leaders reaffirmed controversial calls for an autonomous region like that of the Kurds in northern Iraq. Prominent Shiite leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim used the celebration of the birth of the Mahdi, a 9th century Shiite imam, to renew his call for an autonomous Shiite region in central and southern Iraq - something the nation's once dominant Sunni Arab minority fears. "Federalism will lead to stability and security in Iraq," Hakim told worshippers during the main weekly prayers in Karbala. Hakim leads the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, one of the most powerful parties in the ruling coalition. "We support it strongly because it would keep dictatorship from happening again - all are entitled to enjoy federalism," he said.