A wave of bombings has left at least 43 people dead in Iraq.

A series of blasts hit a Shiite holy city in Iraq today, killing at least 10 people and wounding scores of others.

A car bomb exploded in a Shiite holy city and 13 members of one Shiite family were gunned down north-east of the capital today in a surge of attacks that killed at least 30 people despite heightened security aimed at curbing sectarian violence following the bombing of a revered Shiite shrine.

Iraqi court officials today denied reports that two court employees attacked Saddam Hussein and punched him several times after he cursed two Shiite Islam saints.