Shiite leaders today decided to oppose convening parliament next week to decide the future of Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and may turn to the country’s top Shiite cleric to break the deadlock over the formation of the new government.

Iraqi lawmakers approved a set of last-minute amendments to the constitution without a vote, sealing a compromise designed to win Sunni support and boost chances for the charter’s approval in a referendum set for Saturday.

THE framers of Iraq’s constitution appear likely to enshrine Islam as the main basis of law in the country - a stronger role than the US had hoped for and one some Iraqis fear will mean a more fundamentalist regime.

GUNMEN killed an aide to Iraq’s most influential Shi’ite cleric and two bodyguards in a drive-by shooting outside a Baghdad mosque yesterday — an attack likely to stoke tensions between the Shi’ite majority and the Sunni minority, officials said.

Gunmen killed an aide to Iraq’s most influential Shiite cleric and two bodyguards in a drive-by shooting outside a Baghdad mosque today – an attack likely to stoke tensions between the Shiite majority and the Sunni minority, officials said.

Iran’s foreign minister and Iraq’s top Shiite Muslim cleric have met in the Iraqi city of Najaf amid worsening sectarian tensions fuelled by a three-week surge of violence that has killed hundreds.

At least eight Iraqis were found shot near a Baghdad dam and a slain Iraqi Kurd was left in a garbage dump in northern Iraq, police said today, raising the number of bodies recovered in the past 48 hours to 45.

A car bomb exploded today in central Iraq, killing five people, including four police officers on patrol, while gunmen killed an education official in Baghdad.

At least seven people were killed and 31 injured today when a bomb exploded at the gate to one of Shia Islam’s holiest shrines in Iraq, hospital officials said.

A SHI’ITE official yesterday announced a 228-candidate coalition backed by leading Shi’ite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to contest Iraq’s January 30 elections.

Iraq’s most powerful Shiite groups today unveiled a unified list of 228 candidates for the January 30 elections, a key step in their bid to take a leading role in post-Saddam Iraq after years on the sidelines.

THOUSANDS of pilgrims streamed into the Imam Ali Shrine yesterday as militants handed the keys to Shi'ite religious authorities after Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric brokered a peace deal to end three weeks of fighting.

Militants filed out of the revered Imam Ali Shrine and turned its keys over to representatives of Iraq’s top Shiite cleric today in the wake of a peace agreement to end three weeks of fighting with US and Iraqi forces in this holy city.

At the United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan this evening welcomed efforts by al-Sistani to end three weeks of fighting in Najaf and urged all parties to respect the Imam Ali Mosque, which is revered by Muslims all over the world.

The government of Iraq has accepted the peace deal brokered by Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani to end the occupation of the holy Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf.

Iraq’s top Shiite cleric made a dramatic return to the violence-wracked city of Najaf today aiming to broker a peace deal to end more than three weeks of devastating fighting between US forces and Shiite militants.

Najaf Governor Adnan al-Zurufi has declared a 24-hour cease-fire from the time Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini Al-Sistani arrived in Najaf to give the militants a chance to decide whether to accept the cleric's peace plan.

Iraq’s top Shiite cleric is on his way to Najaf today, armed with a new peace initiative and a call for Iraqis to march on the holy city, after he unexpectedly returned home from Britain.

IRAQ’S most powerful Shi’ite cleric arrived home from Britain yesterday and his aides called for a nationwide march to Najaf to end nearly three weeks of fierce fighting between US forces and Shi’ite militants in the holy city.

Iraq’s most powerful Shiite cleric arrived home from Britain today and his aides called for a nationwide march to Najaf to end nearly three weeks of fierce fighting between US forces and Shiite militants in this holy city.

Iraq’s most powerful Shiite cleric was expected to return home from Britain today in a bid to end nearly three weeks of fierce fighting between US forces and Shiite militants in the holy city of Najaf.

Iraq’s top Shiite Muslim cleric Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, who wields enormous influence among Shiite Iraqis, was returning to the chaotic country today to try to rescue the holy city of Najaf, his spokesman said.

SPORADIC gunfire, explosions and a US bombing raid shook the city of Najaf yesterday as militants retained control of a revered shrine, raising fears that a plan to end the crisis could collapse amid bickering between Shi'ite leaders.

Sporadic gunfire, explosions and a US bombing raid shook the city of Najaf today as militants retained control of a revered shrine, raising fears that a plan to end the crisis could collapse amid bickering between Shiite leaders.

Militants loyal to firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said today they handed over the keys to – but not control of – a revered Muslim shrine to Shiite religious leaders.

The fledgling Iraqi Government faces many obstacles in a perilous 18-month path to complete freedom, Henza Hendawi reports from Baghdad.

One person was wounded when at least 10 rockets detonated in central Baghdad, near an area that houses the headquarters of the US-led coalition.

Iraqi politicians and a top Shiite cleric have successfully resolved their differences over the country’s interim constitution and will sign the charter tomorrow.

Iraq’s constitution was in limbo today after Shi’ite leaders refused to sign it in a last-minute dispute that wrecked a planned ceremony and marred a landmark in US plans to hand over sovereignty.

The top US commander in Iraq today urged Saddam loyalists to lay down arms and ”embrace the future,”, saying they will otherwise end up either dead or in custody.

Iraq’s US administrator, Paul Bremer has been recalled from Baghdad for brainstorming consultations at the White House and the United Nations, in a scramble to salvage a timetable for Iraqi self-rule.

A ROADSIDE bomb explosion yesterday killed one US soldier and wounded two, bringing the American death toll to nearly 500 since the start of fighting in March.

The three top Shiite Muslim clerics threatened by a mob in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf were safe today after they were rescued by tribal supporters, a cleric in Kuwait said.