In an internet letter in the name of Saddam Hussein, the deposed dictator has called on Iraqis not to hate the invaders of their country.

An appeals court decision upholding Saddam Hussein’s death sentence is final and does not require the approval of Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, a presidential spokesman said today.

THE contrast between Iraq’s Kurdish provinces and the insurgency-racked cities to the south is evident in the 100 or so labourers gathered at the main square of this Kurdish town, looking for work.