As Iraqis awaited the inauguration of their new national unity government, roadside bombs and other attacks killed 10 Iraqis and wounded 26 people today, including a US soldier riding through Baghdad in a minesweeper.

Four US soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter were killed by a roadside bomb north-west of Baghdad today and at least two dozen Iraqis died in violence across the country, as politicians put the final touches on a national unity government they hope will restore security to Iraq.

Iraq’s Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki said today that the formation of the Cabinet was “mostly complete,” but an influential Shiite group and some Sunni Arab politician signalled the deal was far from done.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice have made a surprise visit to Iraq to show support for the country's new Prime Minister-designate.

Iraq’s Shiite alliance nominated tough-talking politician Jawad al-Maliki as prime minister, in a move that broke the long impasse over forming a new government to pull the country out of its sectarian strife.

IRAQI Shi’ite politicians agreed yesterday to nominate Jawad al-Maliki as prime minister, replacing the incumbent in a bid to clear the way for a long-delayed new government.

Bowing to intense pressure, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari agreed to allow Shiite politicians to find someone else to head the new government, abandoning his claim on another term in the face of Sunni and Kurdish opposition.

A drive-by shooting killed a Shiite baker in Baghdad today. The bodies of two other Iraqis were found in the capital.

IRAQI Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, under intense pressure to give up plans for a second term, agreed yesterday to let Shi’ite lawmakers reconsider his nomination, a step that could mark a breakthrough in the months-long effort to form a new government.

Embattled Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari today asked the Shiite alliance to confirm his nomination for a second term, and Shiite politicians plan to meet this weekend to decide whether to replace him.

HANDWRITING experts authenticated Saddam Hussein’s signature on memos approving death sentences for 148 Shi’ites and the confiscation of farmlands during the 1980s, the judge said yesterday.

Iraq’s Parliament will convene tomorrow after a three-day delay despite Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari’s refusal to step aside and break the deadlock over a new government, officials said today.

Sporadic clashes broke out today between gunmen and Iraqi security forces in a Sunni Arab district of northern Baghdad as soldiers sealed off streets and manned checkpoints a day after a major gunbattle there.

THE political impasse over Iraq’s new government tightened yesterday as Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari’s party indicated it was standing firm for him to keep the post despite opposition from Sunni Arabs and Kurds.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari’s party will stick by him as the Shiite nominee for a second term and will put forward the name of a new candidate only if the premier decides to step aside, a top party official said today.

THE speaker of parliament announced yesterday he was postponing a planned session of parliament “for a few days”.

A TOP Shi’ite lawmaker yesterday said names of selections for top posts in the new Iraqi government must be agreed upon before parliament can convene next week, casting doubt on whether the legislature will meet as announced.

A top Shiite politicians today said names of selections for top posts in the new Iraqi government must be agreed upon before parliament can convene next week, casting doubt on whether the legislature will meet as announced.

SHI’ITE politicians failed yesterday to resolve the deadlock over their candidate for prime minister, which is blocking formation of a new government.

The Sunni Arab bloc in Iraq’s parliament remains opposed to a new term for Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and will ask the Shiites to present new names for consideration for the top government post, a Sunni spokesman said today.

Relatives and friends of Shiite Muslims killed in a deadly mosque attack carried coffins of the dead through the streets of several Baghdad neighbourhoods today, chanting religious rites and beating their heads and chests.

SUICIDE attackers wearing women's robes blew themselves up yesterday in a Shi'ite mosque in northern Baghdad, killing at least 79 people and wounding 164.

Shiite leaders today decided to oppose convening parliament next week to decide the future of Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and may turn to the country’s top Shiite cleric to break the deadlock over the formation of the new government.

SADDAM HUSSEIN was cross-examined for the first time in his six-month-old trial yesterday, saying he approved death sentences against Shi’ites in the 1980s.

Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari was today quoted as refusing to abandon his bid for a second term to break the deadlock over a new government.

A car bomb exploded today in a mostly Shiite area of eastern Baghdad, killing at least 10 and wounding 28, police said.

IRAQI politicians were urged yesterday to speed up negotiations to form a new government.

The US and UK expect Iraq to quickly restrain militias and unify around a stable government, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said today in a visit meant to resonate both in Iraq and at home.

THE United States and British foreign ministers made a surprise trip to Iraq yesterday in a bid to persuade the country's leaders to end nearly four months of wrangling and form a new government.

Insurgents blew up a small Shiite mosque north-east of Baghdad today, while police reported the discovery of nearly 40 bodies in several neighbourhoods of the Iraqi capital. The US military reported the death of three American soldiers.

Police found 30 more victims of the sectarian slaughter ravaging Iraq – most of them beheaded – dumped on a village road north of Baghdad.

INSURGENTS stormed a jail at dawn yesterday in the Sunni Muslim heartland north of Baghdad, killing at least 19 policemen and a courthouse guard.

IRAQ marked the third anniversary of the US-led invasion with a fresh spate of killings, a deadlock over the new government and warnings of civil war as Shi’ites gathered in the south for a major religious ceremony.

Suspected insurgents marked the third anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq today with roadside bombings that killed at least eight policemen, and authorities reported finding 15 more bullet-riddled bodies, one of them a 13-year-old girl, dumped in the capital and in the Tigris River south of Baghdad.

On the day of the first session of Iraq’s new parliament today, and within days of the third anniversary of the US-led invasion, the country lie under the shadow of a feared civil war and politicians report a stalemate over the next government.

Leaders of Iraq’s main political blocs began a round of marathon meetings today with the US ambassador in an attempt to reach agreement on a broad-based government.

The feared resumption of mass sectarian violence erupted in a Baghdad Shiite slum when bombers blew apart two markets, killing at least 44 people and wounding about 200.

Bombings and shootings yesterday killed at least 17 people around Iraq, while President Jalal Talabani issued a decree ordering the new parliament to hold its first session on March 19.

Iraq President Jalal Talabani issued a decree today that orders Iraq’s new parliament to hold its first session on March 19, the president’s chief of staff said.

Gunmen wearing commando uniforms of the Shiite-dominated Interior Ministry stormed an Iraqi security company that relied heavily on Sunni ex-military men from the Saddam Hussein regime and abducted 50 hostages.

Iraq’s Shiite prime minister declared yesterday that he would not be blackmailed into abandoning his bid for a second term.

Iraq’s president failed in a bid to order parliament into session by next Sunday, further delaying formation of a government and raising questions about whether the political process can withstand the unrelenting violence or disintegrate into civil war.

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.

Iraq’s president today said he would call the country’s new parliament into session for the first time on Sunday, starting the clock on a 60-day period during which the legislature must elect a new head of state and sign off on a prime minister and Cabinet.