Tanks and armoured vehicles have deployed in the Yemeni capital after a top army commander and close aide to the country’s embattled leader announced he was defecting to the opposition.

Gunmen attacked two Sunni mosques today in Baghdad, fanning Iraq’s sectarian crisis, as US military officials confirmed three more US Marines died in action in separate attacks in western Iraq.

The US military is dispatching an Army battalion of about 700 soldiers to Iraq from their base in Kuwait to provide extra security during the pilgrimage holiday of Ashura, three military officers said today.

Iraq’s transitional prime minister called today for a speedy withdrawal of US troops and the top US commander in Iraq said he believed a “fairly substantial” pullout could begin next spring and summer.

A US army tank company commander told his court-martial today that his shooting of an unarmed Iraqi wounded in a chase was “honourable” and “the right thing to do”.

A US tank company commander pleaded not guilty today as he went on trial in Germany on charges related to the killing last year of a critically-wounded Iraqi.

For the first time in more than a decade, the US army is forcing thousands of former soldiers back into uniform, a reflection of the strain on the service of long campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

British forces clashed with gunmen loyal to rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the south-eastern Iraq for a second day, killing at least two insurgents.

An American army captain has been charged with murder in connection with the shooting of an Iraqi civilian.

Fighting raged in the Shiite holy city of Kufa early today, killing two US soldiers and further eroding a deal to halt clashes with followers of a radical Muslim cleric.

At least 32 fighters loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr were killed when US followed Iraqi forces into a mosque in the holy city of Kufa, where rebels were said to be storing weapons.

A US soldier was killed and three others were wounded in an attack on their vehicle south of Baghdad, the military said today.

American tanks and AC-130 gunships pounded militia positions early today near two shrines in the centre of the holy city of Karbala killing 18 fighters loyal to a rebel cleric.

Backed by tanks and helicopters, US soldiers fought fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr early today in the southern holy city of Karbala, witnesses said. Much of the fighting took place near a prominent mosque.

US PRESIDENT George W Bush issued a strong endorsement yesterday of embattled Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, telling him after a meeting at the Pentagon: “You are doing a superb job.”

US troops are set to enter parts of Najaf soon to clamp down on a radical Shiite cleric’s rebel militia – but they will stay away from sensitive holy sites in the city to avoid rousing religious outrage, a US general said today.

Iraqi security forces will not be ready to protect the country against insurgents by the June 30 handover of power, the top US administrator said – an assessment aimed at defending the continued heavy presence of US troops even after an Iraqi government takes over.

Diplomatic efforts to end a standoff between US troops and an anti-American cleric in one of the holiest cities in Shiite Islam pressed forward today and an Iraqi leader said he saw “flexibility” on the side of the charismatic cleric, who heads a militia with several thousand members.

A roadside bomb killed an American soldier and wounded another in Baghdad today, while a US Marine died as a result of hostile action west of the capital yesterday, the US military said.

More violence struck Iraq ahead of the anniversary on Saturday of the start of the US-led war that ousted Saddam Hussein: a deadly car bomb exploded in a southern city, three Iraqi journalists died in a drive-by shooting and three US soldiers perished in mortar attacks.

A terror attack on a five-storey Baghdad hotel which left 17 people dead was a suicide bombing and may have hit the wrong target, the US military said today.

A powerful car bomb destroyed a five-story Iraqi hotel housing foreigners in central Baghdad tonight, killing 27 people and leaving a jagged crater just days before the anniversary of the start of the Iraq war.

Four American soldiers died in two bomb explosions in Baghdad, the U.S.-led coalition said today.

At least 143 people were killed when simultaneous explosions ripped through crowds of worshippers today at Shiite Muslim shrines in Baghdad and Karbala on the holiest day of the Shiite calendar.

At least 83 people were killed after a series of co-ordinated blasts struck major Shiite Muslim shrines in the Iraqi city of Karbala and in Baghdad today, as thousands of pilgrims converged on the climactic day of their most important religious festival.

Roadside bombs have claimed more US lives in Iraq, killing three US soldiers in separate attacks in Baghdad and Sunni Muslim areas to the north of the capital.

Iraq’s US administrator suggested today he would block any move by Iraqi leaders to make Islamic law the main source of legislation in the interim constitution, a move women’s groups fear would threaten their rights.

A roadside bomb exploded today in central Baghdad, killing a US soldier and wounding another, the US military said.

A roadside bomb killed two American soldiers in Baghdad, the US command said today.

A suicide bomber blew up his car outside an army recruiting centre in central Baghdad today killing around 47 people and injuring 50.

THE United States has used information gained during interrogations of Saddam Hussein to help round up insurgents and identify false leads, a senior military official said yesterday.

The Dutch Embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad was hit by a rocket tonight - but there were no injuries because the mission had closed for the day.

A suicide bomber today blew up his vehicle at a main gate to the headquarters compound of the US-led coalition in Baghdad, killing about 20 people in the deadliest attack since the capture of Saddam Hussein last month.

A car bomb exploded outside the main gate to the headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition today, killing 23 people, including two Americans who may have been civilian contractors, U.S. officials said.

A car bomb that destroyed a Baghdad restaurant crowded with New Year’s Eve revellers killed eight people and wounded 35 including one Briton and two Americans, the US military said today.

Roadside bombs killed two US soldiers and two Iraqi children, as the toll from a coordinated guerrilla onslaught on Iraq’s holy Shiite city of Karbala rose to 19 dead.

A hotel used by Western contractors and journalists in the Iraqi capital Baghdad came under attack for the second time in 24 hours today but there were no injuries.

A US soldier said a blast in central Baghdad tonight was caused by a rocket-propelled grenade that narrowly missed the Sheraton Ishtar Hotel.

Explosions were heard in Baghdad tonight as the US military said it was conducting an anti-rebel operation called Iron Justice.

Two American soldiers were killed today when a bomb exploded near their convoy in Baghdad.

A HUGE explosion destroyed the offices of a major Shi’ite party yesterday as it was revealed that US administrator Paul Bremer escaped a rebel ambush on his convoy two weeks ago.

Using sledgehammers, crowbars, explosives and armoured vehicles, US forces smashed down the gates of homes and the doors of workshops and junkyards in Samarra to attack the Iraqi resistance that has persisted despite the capture of Saddam Hussein.

THE massive blast when a petrol tanker exploded in a fireball after colliding with a bus in the centre of Baghdad yesterday, killing 17 Iraqis, was an accident, said US military investigators.

A US commander says Saddam Hussein is providing useful insights into the escalating uprising in Iraq.