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.

A group of gunmen in two cars attacked a minibus in Iraq today, killing seven passengers, including a child, police said.

Three Iraqi soldiers were killed and two others injured when a roadside bomb exploded in western Baghdad today.

Iraq’s parliament speaker slapped a fellow Sunni Arab lawmaker on the face today as he was leaving a stormy session in which he accused “three-quarters” of the house’s 275 members of involvement in sectarian violence.

Insurgents penetrated security today in a city sacred to Shiites, planting a car bomb near one of Iraq’s holiest shrines and killing at least 37 people in a continued surge in attacks outside Baghdad during a security crackdown there.

A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up in the Iraqi parliament cafeteria in an assault in the heart of the heavily fortified, US-protected Green Zone today, killing at least eight people including three politicians, the American military said.

Iraq’s largest Sunni-Arab political party today condemned a car bomb attack inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone that apparently attempted to kill Iraq’s controversial speaker of parliament.

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

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.

THE chief judge in Saddam Hussein’s genocide trial has been replaced, it was reported yesterday.

Politicians angered by the relentless violence plaguing Iraq demanded explanations today from the defence and interior ministers on what was being done to put an end to death squads and kidnappings.

THE largest Sunni Arab bloc in Iraq’s parliament said yesterday it was suspending its participation in the legislature until a kidnapped colleague was released, dealing a blow to efforts to involve the disaffected minority in the political process.

Gunmen kidnapped a Sunni female member of parliament in Baghdad today along with her guards, the parliament speaker’s office said.

A parked car bomb struck a popular outdoor market today in the Shiite slum of Sadr City in Baghdad, killing at least 66 people and wounding dozens, authorities said.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki says he believes Iraqi forces are capable of taking over security around the country within 18 months, but he did not mention a timetable for US-led coalition forces to leave.

A bomb killed 19 people and wounded 58 in a Shiite district of Baghdad today as parliament prepared to inaugurate the country’s first fully constitutional government since the collapse of Saddam Hussein three years ago.

Iraq’s president today said he would call the country’s new parliament into session for the first time on Sunday, starting the clock on a 60-day period during which the legislature must elect a new head of state and sign off on a prime minister and Cabinet.

Sunni Arabs are ready to end their boycott of talks to form a new government if rival Shiites return mosques seized in last week’s sectarian attacks and meet other unspecified demands, a Sunni official said today.

Iraq’s most influential Shiite political leader today called for Sunni-Shiite unity as religious figures sought to calm passions and pull the nation from the brink of civil war after the bombing of a Shiite shrine two days ago and a wave of deadly reprisal attacks.

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.

A bomb planted near a tea stand killed eight men waiting for jobs in a largely Shiite area of Baghdad today and six other people died in scattered violence across the country.

Sunni Arab politicians called today for a government of national unity and signalled they will use their increased numbers in parliament to curb the power of rival Shiites who have claimed the biggest number of seats in the new legislature.

AN ALLIANCE of Shi’ite religious parties won the most seats in Iraq’s new parliament, results showed yesterday, but not enough to rule without coalition partners as Sunni Arabs gained seats over previous ballots.

The election commission today announced that an alliance of Shiite religious parties won the biggest number of seats in Iraq’s new parliament, but too few to rule without coalition partners.

THE Islamist Shi'ite Alliance bloc will fall short of retaining its parliamentary majority after last month's election, according to an almost final tally of seats.

A SUICIDE car bomber targeted a busload of police recruits north of Baghdad yesterday, killing seven people, and gunmen in the capital killed five workers, police said.

SUNNI Arab and secular groups refused yesterday to open discussions with the Shiite religious bloc, leading in Iraq's parliamentary elections, until a full review of the contested results is carried out.

Sunni Arab and secular groups refused to open discussions with the Shiite religious bloc leading in Iraq’s parliamentary elections until a full review of the contested results is carried out.

A UNITED NATIONS official said yesterday that Iraq’s recent parliamentary elections, which have given a strong lead to the Shi’ite religious bloc dominating the current government, were credible and that there was there was no justification in calls for a rerun.

Sunni Arab and secular political groups joined forces today to decide whether to reject the results of last week’s parliamentary election and call for a revote.

Sunni Arabs and a key secular party charged that parliamentary elections were tainted by fraud, and demanded an inquiry into preliminary results showing the governing Shiite religious bloc with a larger than expected lead.

SUNNI ARABS alleged yesterday that last week's Iraqi parliamentary elections were fraudulent, especially in Baghdad province.

Iraq’s main Sunni Arab political coalition today challenged preliminary results from last week’s parliamentary elections and warned that any attempt to falsify the outcome could further destabilise the country.

IRAQ’S electoral commission released partial and preliminary results today from the last week’s elections that showed Shiite and Kurdish parties dominating in provinces where they are the predominant group.

Iraq’s electoral commission released partial and preliminary results today from the last week’s elections that showed Shiite and Kurdish parties dominating in provinces where they are the predominant group.

Sunni Arab participation in the Iraqi elections could have been even higher if there had there been more polling centres in key Sunni areas, a head of the largest Sunni Arab slate said today.