THE massive multinational probe into the Madrid bombings made significant progress yesterday, with police in Spain arresting five more suspects and bringing five others before a judge.

AN explosion on a road frequently used by British troops killed six civilians in the southern city of Basra yesterday as the American military detained about 20 people suspected of links to al-Qaida.

A CLOSE confidant of Saddam Hussein, whose daughter is the widow of one of the deposed dictator's sons, is believed to be working with an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group to co-ordinate attacks in Iraq.

A man close to Saddam Hussein is believed to be helping co-ordinate attacks on American forces with members of an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group, a senior US defence official said.

US forces in Iraq have captured one of the most senior members of Ansar al-Islam, an extremist group suspected of having ties to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network, US defence officials said.

IRAN’S supreme leader accused the US of stirring up trouble in the country after anti-regime protestors defied threats of a crackdown and took to the streets for a second night running.

A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up near the home of a prominent Kurdish politician in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq tonight, officials said.

AL-QAIDA operatives are planning to strike at US and allied forces taking part in a war in Iraq, according to information acquired by American intelligence agencies.

An Islamic militant group detonated a bomb at a military checkpoint in northern Iraq today, killing five people, Kurdish officials and witnesses said.

Istabraq has been a constant drifter in the ante-post exchanges on the Smurfit Champion Hurdle in recent weeks but that may be about to change.