Crowds of thousands swept into the streets of cities around the Middle East today to protest against Israel’s air assault on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

Followers of Muqtada al-Sadr accused the Iraqi government of targeting their political movement as security forces arrested 20 policemen linked to the anti-American cleric.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended remarks on Islam and jihad made by the Pope during his trip to Germany, saying they have “misunderstood” the Pontiff’s message.

Lebanon’s most senior Shiite Muslim cleric denounced the Pope’s recent remarks about Muslim holy war as Egypt warned that the Pope’s comments could incite violence between Muslims and Christians.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended remarks on Islam and jihad made by Pope Benedict XVI during his trip to Germany, saying they have “misunderstood” the pontiff’s message.

US and Iraqi forces killed 104 insurgents in hundreds of raids since last week’s killing of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and the American death toll in the war in Iraq hit 2,500, the US military said today.

IRAQ’S president said yesterday he would convene the new parliament for the first time on March 12, beginning a 60-day countdown during which lawmakers must elect a new head of state and sign off on a prime minister and cabinet.

A WAVE of sectarian rage swept across Iraq yesterday leaving at least 110 people dead and the violence-wracked country careering towards civil war.

A large explosion today destroyed the golden dome of one of Iraq’s most famous Shiite religious shrines, sending protesters pouring into the streets. It was the third major attack against Shiite targets in as many days.

IRAN is to examine the scientific evidence supporting the Holocaust, an apparent next step in hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's campaign against Israel and a move likely to deepen Tehran's international isolation.

Hundreds of Iraqi police and army troops fanned out across Baghdad yesterday, setting up checkpoints and fortifying polling stations with barbed wire and blast barriers two days ahead of a historic constitutional referendum.

Iran’s foreign minister and Iraq’s top Shiite Muslim cleric have met in the Iraqi city of Najaf amid worsening sectarian tensions fuelled by a three-week surge of violence that has killed hundreds.

A CARBOMB exploded outside a Shi’ite mosque north-east of Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens, a police official and witnesses said.

An aide to Iraq’s most revered Shiite Muslim cleric was injured in an assassination attempt in Baghdad after receiving threats from militants opposed to his support for Iraq’s elections, a relative of the man said today.

Militants filed out of the revered Imam Ali Shrine and turned its keys over to representatives of Iraq’s top Shiite cleric today in the wake of a peace agreement to end three weeks of fighting with US and Iraqi forces in this holy city.

Rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr today ordered his fighters to lay down their arms and leave Najaf and neighbouring Kufa.

Iraq’s top Shiite cleric made a dramatic return to the violence-wracked city of Najaf today aiming to broker a peace deal to end more than three weeks of devastating fighting between US forces and Shiite militants.

Militants loyal to firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said today they handed over the keys to – but not control of – a revered Muslim shrine to Shiite religious leaders.

REBEL Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s gunmen removed their weapons from the revered Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf yesterday in a step aimed at ending the two-week-old uprising.

An aide said Iraq’s Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, currently in London after undergoing medical treatment, has agreed to take over holy shrine in Najaf from militants.

Thousands of American and Iraqi soldiers launched a major assault on militiamen loyal to a radical Shiite cleric in the holy Iraqi city of Najaf today.

IRAQ’S most influential Shi’ite cleric yesterday demanded that all armed groups withdraw from the embattled holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, where nine militiamen loyal to a rebel cleric were killed in heavy fighting with US forces.

US warplanes strafed gunmen in Fallujah and more than 100 guerrillas armed with rocket-propelled grenades pounded a lone US armoured vehicle – a sign of heavy battles ahead if troops resume a full assault on this besieged city.

IRAQI politicians and a top Shi'ite cleric are due to sign the new Iraqi interim constitution charter today.

Iraqi politicians and a top Shiite cleric have successfully resolved their differences over the country’s interim constitution and will sign the charter tomorrow.

SHI’ITE members of Iraq’s Governing Council refused to sign the interim constitution at the last minute yesterday, delaying a signing ceremony, after the country’s top cleric rejected parts of the document, Iraqi officials said.

Two explosions were heard early today in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a day after simultaneous suicide bombings on Shiite Muslim shrines killed at least 143 people.

US administrator Paul Bremer says it could take more than 15 months to hold elections in Iraq – a much longer timeframe than the country’s Shi’ite Muslim clergy and some political leaders seem prepared to accept.

Two more American soldiers were killed by roadside bomb in Iraq today.

Insurgents launched new attacks against US occupation troops today as the United States was reported ready to make major changes in its blueprint for handing over power to a new Iraqi government.

A UN team sent to Iraq to study whether elections can be held before the handover of power to Iraqis by June 30 arrived safely in Baghdad today, the secretary-general announced.

Three Iraqis were killed when a truck bomb exploded soon after a US patrol passed by as two UN security experts arrived in the Iraqi capital Baghdad to study the possible return of international staff.

The UN is close to backing an American and Iraqi request to deploy experts who would assess whether Iraq could hold elections by May for a transitional government, diplomats revealed.

The top US commander in Iraq today urged Saddam loyalists to lay down arms and ”embrace the future,”, saying they will otherwise end up either dead or in custody.

Waves of protesting Iraqis marched against British soldiers, hurling stones and setting off homemade explosives in the southeastern city of Amarah today, a day after clashes killed six protesters and wounded at least 11.

The US may soon begin transferring power back to the Iraqi people, but American peacekeeping troops will remain in Iraq for some time, President George Bush affirmed today.

A top enforcer in Saddam Hussein’s regime may face war crimes charges after being captured and handed over to Allied forces in Iraq, officials said today.

The three top Shiite Muslim clerics threatened by a mob in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf were safe today after they were rescued by tribal supporters, a cleric in Kuwait said.

A CROWD yesterday hacked to death two leading Islamic clerics in a shrine in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf where rival Shi’ite factions had gathered for talks.