A court in the genocide trial of Saddam Hussein heard harrowing accounts today that the former Iraqi leader’s forces beheaded a mentally-ill Kurdish man and pushed three other Kurds out of a helicopter in mid-air during a crackdown 20 years ago.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited the autonomous and oil-rich Kurdish region of northern Iraq today, less than two weeks after the regional government threatened to break away from Iraq in a dispute over oil.

A series of bombings and mortar attacks – including two suicide bombings in the northern city of Kirkuk, killed at least 27 people and wounded another 80 today.

A SUICIDE car bomber targeted a busload of police recruits north of Baghdad yesterday, killing seven people, and gunmen in the capital killed five workers, police said.

Campaigning came to a stop today around Iraq to give the country’s 15 million voters an opportunity to reflect before deciding who will govern their country for the next four years.

A blinding sandstorm in Baghdad forced the postponement of a meeting scheduled by Iraqi political leaders to discuss issues blocking agreement on a new constitution, President Jalal Talabani’s office announced.

SIX police officers were killed and 15 wounded in car bomb attacks on Iraq’s security services, as political factions wrangled over putting together a government.

IRAQ'S new authorities took legal control of Saddam Hussein and 11 others in Baghdad yesterday, setting the stage for a court appearance for the former Iraqi dictator to face war crimes charges on his 24 years in power.

The Iraqi National Congress (INC): Founded in 1992 as an umbrella group for other exiled opposition groups, the INC has since faced claims it acts unilaterally as its own party.