Two explosions have been heard in central Baghdad as an Arab summit opened in the Iraqi capital.

Arab leaders will offer plans this week to break the political “stalemate” that has engulfed Syria but they will not demand the resignation of President Bashar Assad, Iraq’s top diplomat said today.

Pakistan criticised the WikiLeaks release for highlighting concerns that enriched uranium could be diverted from its nuclear programme to build a secret weapon.

THE US yesterday moved into the final phase of its military involvement in Iraq, with administration officials saying the war was ending even as the new commander of the remaining 50,000 troops warned of the ongoing threat from “hostile elements”.

US vice president Joe Biden landed today in Baghdad on what appeared to be a dual mission: to visit US troops during the Fourth of July weekend and coax Iraqi leaders into ending their government impasse.

The new US ambassador to Iraq has arrived in Baghdad to take up his post.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today that this week’s deadly suicide bombings in Iraq are a sign that extremists are afraid the Iraqi government is succeeding.

Barack Obama may say change is on the way, but many Iraqis aren’t counting on an immediate shift in US policy toward their country when the Democrat takes office as US president.

US and Iraqi negotiators are “very close” to reaching a long-term security pact that will decide the fate of US troops in Iraq, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari claimed yesterday.

Iraq’s prime minister says his country wants some form of timetable for a withdrawal of American troops included in the deal the two countries are negotiating.

IRAQ’S foreign minister last night said he believes his country has averted a civil war after five years of “tears and blood” and warned an abrupt US troop withdrawal would be disastrous.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Baghdad today at the start of the first-ever trip by an Iranian president to Iraq.

US SECRETARY of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday said Iraq’s national reconciliation has moved along “quite remarkably”, citing a new law that lets thousands of former members of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath party reclaim government jobs or pensions.

The hundreds of thousands of people missing in Iraq are just the tip of the country’s looming humanitarian crisis, the International Red Cross warned today.

TURKEY paraded its military muscle yesterday, amid stern warnings from Baghdad that any large-scale Turkish incursion against Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq would have “disastrous” results.

Turkey today rejected a ceasefire announced by Kurdish rebels and continued with its troop build-up on the border with Iraq.

Turkey's foreign minister arrived in Baghdad today for talks with his Iraqi counterpart and the nation's president, both Kurds, on the border crisis.

The most senior leader in Iraq’s Kurdish region appeared to raise the stakes in the stand-off over northern Iraq, warning Turkey that the region would defend itself against any cross-border military strike on rebel bases.

IRAQ’S foreign minister urged neighbours to prevent “terrorists and killers” from crossing into his country and warned yesterday that the violence in Iraq could spill across its borders.

Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari today urged Iraq’s neighbours to prevent “terrorists and killers” from crossing into his country and warned that the violence in Iraq could spill across its borders into other nations.

The United States and Iran are to hold ambassador-level talks in Baghdad regarding the deteriorating security situation in Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said today that the Iraqi army and police are capable of keeping security in the country when American troops leave “any time they want,” though he acknowledged the forces need further weapons and training.

Iraq’s foreign minister today warned that a quick American military withdrawal from the country could lead to civil war and the collapse of the government, as pressure on the Bush administration for a pull-out grows.

Turkey has massed 140,000 soldiers on its border with northern Iraq but so far there have been no violations, Iraq’s foreign minister said today.

Five of Iran's officials held by the US in Iraq have complained about their treatment in detention, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said today.

Tehran has agreed to a formal request from the US to talk about security in Iraq during meetings in Baghdad, it was disclosed today.

The Iraqi refugee crisis in neighbouring countries could spread unless the United States and the EU take urgent measures, a human rights group said today.

Tens of thousands draped themselves in Iraqi flags and marched peacefully through the streets of two Shiite holy cities today, the fourth anniversary of Baghdad’s fall.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said today that Iran had no plans to meet with US officials on the sidelines of the forthcoming conference on Iraq, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.

Iraq’s foreign minister welcomed the release today of 15 British sailors and marines but said the decision was not the result of a deal to release five Iranians detained by the US in Iraq.

Iraq’s foreign minister has demanded that Iran release 15 British sailors and marines, saying they had been detained in Iraqi waters and were operating with government consent.

US and Iranian envoys exchanged direct talks today at a conference on Iraq stability efforts, opening possibly groundbreaking steps that could ease their nearly 28-year diplomatic freeze.

Iraq’s prime minister appealed today for international help to cut off networks aiding extremists and warned envoys from neighbours and world powers that Iraq’s growing sectarian bloodshed could spill across the Middle East.

Iran said today it is considering whether to participate in a Baghdad-organised conference of Iraq's neighbours, which the United States plans to attend.

President George Bush authorised a series of US raids against Iranians in Iraq as part of a broad military offensive, his secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said today.

The Iraqi foreign minister today said the five Iranians detained by US-led forces in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq were working in a liaison office that had government approval and was in the process of being approved as a consulate.

Iraq’s president rejected suggestions that an international conference be held to address the violence wracking his country, echoing sentiments expressed by other leading politicians.

Turkey’s prime minister today offered training for the Iraqi police and army, and urged power-sharing among ethnic groups in the Iraqi oil centre of Kirkuk.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki left Iraq today on an official visit to Turkey.

THE US Army has charged three soldiers in connection with the murders of three Iraqi men who were in military custody in Iraq in early May, the military said yesterday.

The US military today said it had intensified its search for two missing soldiers, with more than 8,000 Iraqi and US troops combing the volatile area south of Baghdad where the men were attacked.

INTELLIGENCE officers said they found Abu Musab al-Zarqawi by following his spiritual adviser and deputy, who visited him at a safehouse.

Gunmen killed 21 people, including a dozen students, after they dragged them off buses north-east of Baghdad.

A string of deadly attacks ripped through the Iraqi capital today, killing at least 26 people and wounding nearly 70, police said.