A car bombing in Baghdad has left at least 51 killed, Iraqi police said tonight.

The discovery of 173 mostly Sunni Arab detainees in an Iraqi Interior Ministry basement lockup – malnourished and showing signs of torture – appeared to validate some of the long-standing grievances and has raised questions about the Shiite-led government’s commitment to democracy and human rights.

FOUR American and four Italian military personnel were killed in separate aircraft crashes, military officials said yesterday, as Iraq’s prime minister condemned the arrest of a top Sunni political leader by US troops.

TWO suicide bombers blew themselves up yesterday in a crowd of police officers south of Baghdad, killing up to 30 people and wounding dozens, while US forces briefly detained a Sunni political leader on the second day of an Iraqi-led security sweep in the capital.

The leader of Iraq’s top Sunni party has been released after being mistakenly detained earlier today by US forces, the American military said.