Iraq’s prime minister today said he expects the US ambassador and military commander to give his government favourable marks when they report to Congress next week and predicted passage of a law soon that could return more Sunnis to government jobs.

A suicide car bomber hit a police checkpoint today in western Ramadi, killing at least 20 people – two of them policemen – and wounding as many as 20, police in the Anbar provincial capital.

A car bomb exploded near a park west of Baghdad today, killing at least 18 boys, police said.

A Marine was killed in combat operations in western Iraq today, the US military said.

Saudi police have arrested 10 people for collecting donations and recruiting on behalf of militant groups, the interior ministry spokesman said today.

US President George Bush’s new strategy to send thousands of extra troops to Iraq was met with harsh scepticism across the Middle East today where many predicted that even with more soldiers, America would fail at breaking the cycle of violence.

After nearly a quarter-century of severed ties, Iraq said it would resume diplomatic relations with neighbouring Syria – a move seen as a possible step toward stemming some of the unrelenting violence, which claimed another 100 lives.

Iran has invited the Iraqi and Syrian presidents to Tehran for a weekend summit with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to thrash out ways to cooperate in curbing violence in Iraq, four key politicians said today.

The US military said today it killed a mid-ranking member of al-Qaida-in-Iraq and his driver in an air strike in Ramadi.

BLOODY turmoil reigned in Iraq yesterday, the first anniversary of Saddam Hussein's fall.