Iraqi politicians today said that they had voted in a closed session to remove the speaker of parliament and replace him with another Sunni Arab.

Security forces are closing in on the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, a senior official said today, showing a captured video of the terror chief teaching followers how to build a car bomb.

Iraq’s Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki said today that the formation of the Cabinet was “mostly complete,” but an influential Shiite group and some Sunni Arab politician signalled the deal was far from done.

IRAQ’S most influential Shi’ite political leader called yesterday for Sunni-Shi’ite unity as religious figures sought to calm passions and pull the nation from the brink of civil war.

A WAVE of sectarian rage swept across Iraq yesterday leaving at least 110 people dead and the violence-wracked country careering towards civil war.

Gunmen in Iraq shot dead 47 civilians and left their bodies in a ditch near Baghdad today as militia battles and sectarian reprisals followed the bombing of a sacred Shiite shrine yesterday.

Iraq’s electoral commission today ruled that more than 99% of the ballots from the December 15 elections were valid, opening the way for a new government to start coming together.