Iraqi security forces reportedly caught terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, but released him because they did not realise who he was.

Two suicide car bombers detonated vehicles today in a Baghdad residential district, and a hotel housing foreign journalists was the apparent target, US and Iraqi officials said.

The discovery of 173 mostly Sunni Arab detainees in an Iraqi Interior Ministry basement lockup – malnourished and showing signs of torture – appeared to validate some of the long-standing grievances and has raised questions about the Shiite-led government’s commitment to democracy and human rights.

US and Iraqi forces fighting insurgents near the Syrian border ran into fierce resistance yesterday with troops encountering dozens of explosive booby traps and killing at least 30 insurgents, the military said.

Iraq’s prime minister disclosed today that more than 170 malnourished Iraqi detainees were found at an Interior Ministry detention centre and that some appeared to have been tortured.

Suicide bombers blasted through the concrete walls surrounding the Palestine Hotel in central Baghdad, where many foreign journalists live and work, injuring about five people inside the hotel and killing at least six passers-by on the streets outside.

THREE massive vehicle bombs exploded yesterday near Baghdad’s Palestine Hotel, home to many Western journalists, killing at least 20 people.

Three massive vehicle bombs exploded today near the Palestine Hotel, home to many foreign journalists, killing at least 20 people.

A SUICIDE car bomber, who targeted American soldiers as they gave sweets to children and detonated his vehicle, killed up to 27 other people yesterday.

A suicide car bomber drove up to a US vehicle crowded with Iraqi children and detonated his vehicle today, killing one American soldier and at least seven Iraqi children, the US military said.