A SUNNI Arab coalition yesterday submitted its list of candidates for the December elections, signalling the intention of many Sunnis to join the political process despite their failure to block ratification of the new constitution.

Thousands of Sunni demonstrators rallied in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit on today to denounce Iraq’s new constitution – a day after negotiators finished the new charter without the endorsement of Sunni Arabs.

The radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (pictured) today called on his followers to end clashes with Shiite rivals so stalled talks on a new constitution can proceed.

Two car bombs killed at least 15 and wounded 28 more, including a boy who appeared to have lost a leg, in a co-ordinated attack on a central Baghdad shopping district early today.

IRAQ Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari pledged to unite Iraq and fight terrorism as Iraq’s first democratically-elected government was sworn in yesterday amid continuing violence.

Shiite Arab leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari was sworn in as prime minister today as Iraq’s first democratically elected government took office.

One day after Iraq’s National Assembly approved the country’s first democratically-elected government, insurgents launched a series of attacks in the country today, killing at least 14 Iraqis and wounding 50, officials said.

AFTER nearly three months of political wrangling, Iraq’s interim National Assembly approved a partial cabinet yesterday, ushering in the country’s first elected government since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

The interim National Assembly approved by show of hands today a partial Cabinet, including 27 ministers and five acting ministers, ushering in Iraq’s first elected government since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

IRAQ’S deputy president Rowsch Shways said talks on a new government between the main Shi’ite alliance and Kurds would continue after parliament meets for the first time on Wednesday.

IRAQ’S main Shi’ite alliance proposed a religious conservative for prime minister yesterday, signalling that he will almost certainly get the job after the alliance’s success in last month’s election.

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.

Shiite Muslims, many kneeling in prayer, were attacked in their mosques and on the streets on the eve of their holiest day, with five bombings killing 36 people in the deadliest day in Iraq since the January 30 national elections.

Top Shiite politicians in Iraq have failed to reach a consensus on their nominee for prime minister, shifting the two-man race to a secret ballot and exposing divisions in the winning alliance.

LEADERS of the Shi’ite political alliance that won Iraq’s election failed to agree on a single nominee for prime minister yesterday.

Leaders of the Shiite political alliance that won Iraq’s election failed to agree on a single nominee for prime minister today.

Talks on who would get what in Iraq’s newly-elected National Assembly were underway today but the clergy-backed Shiites, whose winning margin was smaller than they expected, may now have to compromise more than anticipated.

Clergy-backed Shiites and independence-minded Kurds swept to victory in Iraq’s elections, according to final results released tonight.

Mariam Fam, Baghdad

French journalists held hostage for four months in Iraq said their militant captors told them they wanted President George Bush to win re-election.

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.

SEVEN truck drivers held hostage in Iraq since July were freed yesterday after a $500,000 (€411,000) ransom was paid.

Unidentified gunmen opened fire today on a convoy carrying former Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi in an apparent assassination attempt that wounded two of his bodyguards, Chalabi’s spokesman said.

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

The Iraqi Interior Ministry said today it had “no intention” of arresting former Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi in the near future on counterfeiting charges, despite an arrest warrant issued by an Iraqi court.

AHMAD Chalabi, the former Iraqi Governing Council member who fell out of favour with the US, has returned to Iraq to face counterfeiting charges, an official in his party said yesterday.

Ahmad Chalabi, a former governing council member wanted in Iraq on counterfeiting charges, has returned to the country to face the charges, an official from his political party said today.

A FIREBRAND Shi'ite cleric yesterday defied demands from Iraq's interim government that his militia pull out of Najaf, after days of fierce clashes with US Marines who say they have killed 360 of his fighters.

Former Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi and his nephew Salem – head of the tribunal trying Saddam Hussein – have dismissed charges against them as "ridiculous".

Protected by about 100 guards, Iraq’s interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has visited the war-shattered city of Najaf, calling on Shiite militants to lay down their weapons after days of fierce clashes with US forces.

TWO car bombs exploded in separate cities in Iraq yesterday, killing at least 14 Iraqis and one US soldier. Dozens were wounded, including 10 soldiers.

Shiite insurgents fired mortar rounds and rocket-propelled grenades at a police station housing US troops in gun battles early today that killed three Iraqis in Baghdad in a stronghold of rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Fighting raged in the Shiite holy city of Kufa early today, killing two US soldiers and further eroding a deal to halt clashes with followers of a radical Muslim cleric.

IYAD ALLAWI, a former member of Saddam's Baath party who then worked with the CIA to topple him, was chosen as prime minister of Iraq yesterday.

A Shiite surgeon, who survived a Saddam Hussein ordered assassination attempt in London while in exile, tonight appears set to Iraq’s new prime minister.

THE US agreed to suspend offensive operations in Najaf yesterday after Iraqi leaders struck a deal with radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to end a stand-off threatening some of Iraq’s holiest Shiite shrines.

IRAQIS reacted with scepticism to promises from US President George W Bush of an independent future, saying an offer of sovereignty did not go far enough to restore their freedom.

Iraq’s governing council has reacted with fury after police backed by American soldiers raided the home and offices of Ahmad Chalabi, a prominent politician once groomed by the Pentagon as a possible replacement for Saddam Hussein.

Ahamd Chalabi, once the Pentagon’s favourite Iraqi, found himself the target of a US army raid in Baghdad today.

US soldiers and Iraqi police surrounded the residence of Iraqi political leader Ahmad Chalabi today, and an aide said the troops raided the house to search for fugitives.

THE head of the Iraqi Governing Council was assassinated in a suicide car bombing near a checkpoint outside the coalition headquarters in central Baghdad yesterday.

The United Nations envoy who is helping draft an Iraqi interim government urged President George W Bush’s administration today to “tread carefully” in besieged Fallujah and avoid alienating an already angry populace.