Tribesmen shot down a Yemeni government warplane which was bombing their positions north of the capital Sanaa today, military officials said.

Renewed violence in Sanaa killed at least 15 people today as forces loyal to the Yemeni regime and its opponents shelled each other’s strategic positions from hills surrounding the capital, medical and security officials said.

Rapidly escalating street battles between opponents of Yemen's regime and forces loyal to its embattled president spread to the home districts of senior government figures and other highly sensitive areas of the capital today.

Yemen’s embattled president vowed he would not step down or allow his impoverished nation to become a “failed state” even as urban combat between government troops and armed tribesmen engulfed parts of the capital.

Yemen’s embattled president vowed today he would not step down or allow his impoverished nation to become a “failed state” even as urban combat between government troops and armed tribesmen engulfed parts of the capital.

Three senior army commanders defected to anti-government ranks in Yemen today and ordered their tanks on to the capital's streets in a show of force.

Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani today issued a direct challenge to the country’s supreme leader over the disputed election.

TWO former Saddam Hussein aides were removed from a Baghdad courtroom for unruly behaviour yesterday on the second day of a trial over the brutal crushing of a 1991 rebellion in Iraq by Shi’ite Muslims.

SADDAM HUSSEIN scrapped all Iraqi weapons of mass destruction after the first Gulf War, his chief nuclear scientist has claimed.

The former Republican Guards general appointed to head an Iraqi army inside besieged Fallujah is to be demoted within days of his appointment.

Eleven US troops were killed in attacks across Iraq, including a mortar barrage in which six soldiers died and 30 were wounded.

THOUSANDS of sacked Iraqi soldiers marched on the US-led administration yesterday and threatened to launch suicide attacks on American troops in Baghdad unless they were paid wages and compensation.

A CLOSE associate of Saddam Hussein was quoted yesterday as saying that the deposed president was safe in Iraq, preparing to organise resistance to US-led occupation forces.

By Terry Prone PEOPLE are a bit sheepish about missing the Iraqi Information Officer’s diatribes, but they do miss him.

ALLIED warplanes and special forces were yesterday targeting Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s birthplace and stronghold.

US troops stormed into the heart of Baghdad yesterday, grabbing two of President Saddam Hussein's palace compounds but losing four dead on the fringes of the capital as Iraqi forces fought back fiercely.

TWO US soldiers were killed as American forces secured Baghdad airport yesterday, a crucial step in their bid to establish a base of operations for coalition forces just outside the Iraqi capital.

American forces secured Baghdad airport today, a crucial step in their bid to establish a base of operations for coalition forces just outside the Iraqi capital.

US armoured units backed by warplanes fought building by building to clear Iraqi forces from Baghdad’s airport today.

American troops battered through Saddam Hussein’s forces south of Baghdad today and were near the international airport, 12 miles from the city centre.

Some Iraqi Republican Guard units moved south from Baghdad toward US forces that are approaching the capital, Pentagon officials said today.

US Marines today shot dead an unarmed Iraqi at a checkpoint hours after seven women and children were killed by American troops who fired at a van which failed to stop in southern Iraq.

Seven women and children died after US troops fired at a van which failed to stop at an army checkpoint in southern Iraq.

US-LED troops fought pitched battles with Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard within 50 miles of the capital yesterday as coalition warplanes pounded the city and dozens of other Iraqi positions in advance of the battle for Baghdad.

Baghdad was under renewed heavy bombardment tonight as US troops engaged in fierce battles with Saddam Hussein’s elite Republican Guards protecting the approaches to the Iraqi capital.

American troops fighting in central Iraq today captured several enemy fighters who said they were members of Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard.

Iraqi opposition groups tonight called for a popular uprising to liberate the country from “dictatorship” and outlined a detailed plan for the future of Iraq.

IT may be a shadow of its former self, but Iraq's Republican Guard is still a combat-hardened force. And it stands at the gates to Baghdad.

SADDAM HUSSEIN’S Republican Guards were headed on a collision course with American forces south of Baghdad last night in the first sign of an Iraqi offensive out of the capital.

SADDAM HUSSEIN launched his first major offensive out of Baghdad last night, dispatching his elite Republican Guards to confront American troops in central Iraq.

SADDAM HUSSEIN’S regime was reported to be under attack from his own people and from coalition forces last night as bombs rained down on Baghdad, and the population of Basra staged an uprising.

Helicopters have begun attacking Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard forces arrayed around Baghdad, a Pentagon official said tonight.

The US Army’s 3rd Infantry Division dashed north today toward the Shiite holy city of Karbala, only 50 miles south of Baghdad, but was stalled by a sandstorm that blew out of the desert in the afternoon.

By Jim Caldwell

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday promised to remain America's closest ally, but urged the US to "listen back" to the international community and embrace a broader world agenda.

US President George Bush last night scoffed at the Iraqi parliament’s recommendation that the latest United Nations arms-inspection resolution be rejected, calling it “nothing but a rubber stamp for Saddam Hussein.”

President George Bush tonight scoffed at the Iraqi parliament’s recommendation that the latest United Nations arms-inspection resolution be rejected, calling it “nothing but a rubber stamp for Saddam Hussein.”

Saddam Hussein’s second son Qusai has been elected to the ruling party’s leadership, significantly boosting his chances of succeeding his father.