An American businessman has been charged with paying bribes to officials to win lucrative reconstruction contracts in Iraq, it was reported today.

The Bush administration is trying to put its best face on the delay in agreeing on a constitution in Iraq, insisting “they are going to finish this”.

Larry Margasak, Washington

A third or more of the government property Halliburton was paid to manage for the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq could not be located by auditors, investigative reports to Congress show.

US authorities may have handed power to an Iraqi government, but hundreds of Americans will still occupy one of Saddam Hussein’s largest palaces in central Baghdad for several months.

Explosions rocked the centre of Baghdad today and smoke could be seen rising from the area of the US-controlled Green Zone.

Human rights groups are angry at a United Nations report that praised the US and its allies for ending years of brutality by Saddam Hussein’s regime, but did not “call coalition forces to account”.

A UN human rights report today credited the US-led coalition with ending years of violations by Saddam Hussein’s regime, but also cited concerns over prisoner abuse.

President George W. Bush said today it would be a disaster if America’s partners pulled troops out of Iraq.

Differences between the Iraqi Governing Council and US authorities over who should be the country’s new president stalled a final agreement on the make-up of an interim government to take power on June 30.

The former Iraqi editor of an American-funded newspaper said today his driver and bodyguard were abducted and murdered, hours after police warned him of a possible kidnapping plot.

AMERICA and Britain presented a new UN resolution last night that would transfer "governing authority" in Iraq to a sovereign interim government by June 30 and authorise a multinational force to maintain peace.

Ahamd Chalabi, once the Pentagon’s favourite Iraqi, found himself the target of a US army raid in Baghdad today.

US soldiers and Iraqi police surrounded the residence of Iraqi political leader Ahmad Chalabi today, and an aide said the troops raided the house to search for fugitives.

An Amnesty International report has alleged British forces in Iraq have shot and killed civilians, including an eight-year-old girl, in situations in which they were under no apparent threat.

BRITISH forces in Iraq have shot and killed civilians, including an eight-year-old girl, in situations in which they were under no apparent threat, according to an Amnesty International report released yesterday.

British troops have quelled an attack in Basra by hundreds of Iraqi militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the British Ministry of Defence said today.

The suicide boat attacks struck at the heart of Iraqi hopes for reconstruction and future prosperity.

OCCUPIED Iraq is rife with corruption, instability and could be heading toward a civil war, according to a leaked coalition memo published yesterday.

Kidnappers seized 13 foreign hostages and threatened to burn three Japanese captives alive if Tokyo did not withdraw its troops from Iraq as fighting in Fallujah raged today between insurgents and US forces.

Mark Sage, New York

US Secretary of State Colin Powell, making an unannounced visit to Baghdad for the first anniversary of the Iraq war, told several hundred American soldiers and civilian workers today that America must maintain its fight against anti-democratic forces here “because we cannot let them win”.

Tony Blair was today struggling to hold together the coalition which took military action in Iraq, after the Spanish Prime Minister-elect accused him and US President George W Bush of going to war on the basis of lies.

IRAQ is still intent on trying former leader Saddam Hussein at home despite his current status as a prisoner of war in US hands, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said yesterday.

BRITAIN’S Prince Charles paid a surprise visit to Iraq yesterday, strolling around one of Saddam Hussein’s old palaces to inspect British troops and share a traditional Arabic coffee with local dignitaries.

The UN is close to backing an American and Iraqi request to deploy experts who would assess whether Iraq could hold elections by May for a transitional government, diplomats revealed.

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.

Tony Blair today faced a fresh wave of attacks accusing him of deceiving Britain over Saddam Hussein’s weapons arsenal.

US officials have released video footage of a bearded Saddam Hussein undergoing medical examination after his capture near Tikrit.

US troops have arrested at least 20 insurgents in a raid in northern Iraq, but they failed to capture their main target – Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a former Saddam deputy and the King of Clubs in the most wanted list.

British and American forces will remain in Iraq until that country’s own people and agencies are in a position to take over responsibility for their own security, Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George Bush declared today.

AMERICAN fighter jets pounded suspected rebel positions yesterday in the largest aerial bombardment in central Iraq since President Bush declared the end of major combat in May.

US fighter jets pounded suspected rebel positions today in the largest aerial bombardment in central Iraq since President Bush declared the end of major combat in May.

Attackers fired mortars toward the US headquarters in Baghdad as Washington’s top soldier in Iraq said insurgents have changed tactics to inflict more damage and casualties on coalition troops while reducing their own.

TWO priceless pieces of Iraq’s ancient heritage, looted from Baghdad’s main museum in the chaotic days after Saddam Hussein’s fall, have been recovered from a Baghdad cesspool, US officials said.

UNITED STATES and Iraqi officials pleaded for billions of pounds to rebuild Iraq at a donors’ conference yesterday, admitting that they may not get what they need.

AN independent agency will decide how to spend billions of dollars in aid for Iraq in a bid to attract more money from international donors, it was confirmed yesterday.

Iraq’s interim leaders told the US today they do not want peacekeepers from Turkey or other neighbouring countries but were willing to soften their opposition to avoid a confrontation with Washington.

The United States says it will consider suggested changes to its draft United Nations Security Council resolution, criticised for not giving the world body a larger role in rebuilding post-war Iraq.

France, Russia and Germany have signalled that a new US draft resolution on Iraq does not meet their demands.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said tonight a new US draft resolution on Iraq does not follow his recommendation for a quick transfer of power to an interim government.

Police and US troops seized weapons during raids in Baghdad and in northern Iraq, US and Iraqi officials said today.

THREE American soldiers were killed and 13 injured in a mortar attack and a bombing in the volatile region of central Iraq, the US military reported yesterday.

The training of an Iraqi police force should be given the highest priority to help stabilise the country, aid workers warned today.