A SUICIDE bomber detonated an explosive belt yesterday in a line of Iraqis waiting to receive government payments, killing eight people and wounding about 30, including children, police said.

A suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt today in a line of Iraqis waiting to receive government payments, killing 10 people and wounding about 40, including children, police said.

A suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt today in a line of people waiting to receive government payments, killing six other people and wounding about 30, including children.

Shiite lawmakers today chose Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to head the new government, selecting the incumbent by a one-vote margin over Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, Shiite officials said.

The most influential politician in Iraq today issued a veiled warning to Sunni Arabs that Shiites would not allow substantive amendments to the country’s new constitution, including to the provision that keeps the central government weak in favour of strong provincial governments.

THOUSANDS of angry Shi’ites rallied yesterday in Baghdad’s Sadr City slum against a spree of attacks that killed almost 200 people and to protest what they claim was American backing for Sunni Arabs politicians who have supported insurgent groups.

Thousands of angry Shiites today rallied in Baghdad’s Sadr City slum against a spree of attacks that killed almost 200 people and to protest what they claim was American backing for Sunni Arabs politicians who have supported insurgent groups.

Sectarian tension whipped through Iraq as thousands of Shiite and Sunni Muslim protesters mixed calls for an end to America’s occupation with stinging condemnations of each other.

IRAQI officials said yesterday Syrian authorities had captured Saddam Hussein’s half-brother and 29 other officials of the deposed dictator’s Ba’ath Party in Syria and handed them over to Iraq in an apparent goodwill gesture.

Interim Vice President Ibrahim al-Jaafari was chosen as his Shiite ticket’s candidate for Iraq’s next prime minister today, after Ahmad Chalabi dropped his bid.

Former Washington favourite Ahmad Chalabi dropped his bid to be the next prime minister of Iraq today.

Leaders of the mostly Shiite Muslim ticket said today they have no intention of establishing an Iranian-style Islamic state in Iraq if they sweep next weekend’s national elections.

A suicide driver detonated a car bomb today outside the offices of Iraq’s largest Shiite political party, killing three other people.

A suicide bomber blew up his his car outside the home of the leader of Iraq’s biggest political party today, killing 15 people and injuring dozens.

At least nine people died and 39 were injured when a suicide bomber targeted the home of the leader of Iraq’s biggest political party today.

A suicide bomber detonated his car today at the gate to the home of the leader of Iraq’s biggest political party, wounding several guards but causing no injuries to the cleric, his spokesman said.

Iraq’s interim prime minister warned that insurgents are trying to foment sectarian civil war as well as derail elections, while thousands of mourners turned out for funerals in the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala a day after car bombs killed 67 people.

Car bombs tore through a Najaf funeral procession and Karbala’s main bus station, killing at least 60 people and wounding more than 120 in the two Shiite holy cities.

A CLERIC with links to Iran leads the candidate list of Iraq’s mainstream Shi’ite Muslim groups for next month’s election.

A SHI’ITE official yesterday announced a 228-candidate coalition backed by leading Shi’ite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to contest Iraq’s January 30 elections.

LEADING Iraqi political parties called yesterday for elections scheduled for January 30 to be delayed because of Iraq’s widening violence.

The Iraqi kidnapping scourge continued unabated today with the abduction of two Egyptians in Baghdad.

THE top US commander in Iraq said yesterday that he needs more international forces to deal with an array of potential security threats, including al-Qaida terrorists, Iranian fighters and clashes between ethnic and religious militias.

The US has handed military control over a huge swathe of Iraq to a Polish commander during a ceremony in the ruins of an amphitheatre built by Alexander the Great near Babylon.

ON his return to Iraq following Saddam Hussein’s fall from power, Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim was hailed as Iraq’s version of Ruhollah Khomeini, the Iranian Shiite leader who led his country’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

On his return to Iraq following Saddam Hussein’s fall from power, Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim was hailed as Iraq’s version of Ruhollah Khomeini, the Iranian Shiite leader who led his country’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

THE suddenness of Saddam Hussein’s fall has opened a power vacuum in Iraq, a power struggle in Washington and another transatlantic tug-of-war.

Iraqi opposition groups are to meet in London next month to discuss their role in any post-Saddam Hussein nation.

Iraqi opposition groups are to meet in London next month to discuss their role in any post-Saddam Hussein nation.