Followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr today warned they will suspend their membership in parliament and the Iraqi Cabinet if prime minister Nouri Maliki meets US president George Bush in Jordan next week, a member of parliament said.

US President George Bush has hailed the killing of “the most-wanted terrorist in Iraq” but said it would not stop the violence there or bring a speedy withdrawal of US troops.

A suicide truck bomb today ripped through a line of vehicles waiting at a checkpoint in Fallujah and killed at least seven Iraqi civilians.

The US military says it will begin moving thousands of prisoners out of Abu Ghraib prison to a new jail near Baghdad’s airport within three months and hand the notorious facility over to Iraqi authorities as soon as possible.

British troops in the tense southern Iraqi city of Basra greatly reduced their presence in the streets today, apparently responding to a call from the provincial governor to sever co-operation until London apologised for storming a police station to free two British soldiers.

IRAQI security forces launched a high-profile crackdown targeting terrorists in Baghdad yesterday as insurgents hit back with suicide bombings and ambushes that killed at least 17 people.

Iraqi security forces launched a high-profile crackdown targeting terrorists in Baghdad today as insurgents hit back with suicide bombings and ambushes that killed at least 17 people.

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein met a defence lawyer for the first time since his capture a year ago, days before several of his top aides are due to appear in court for war crimes hearings.

The Iraqi Cabinet today vowed to respond in detail to claims by British prime minister Tony Blair that Saddam Hussein is pursuing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.