Outraged at the turmoil in Zimbabwe, the UN Security Council declared this morning that a fair presidential vote is impossible because of the “campaign of violence” waged by President Robert Mugabe’s government.

The US and Britain delayed a vote on a resolution that would expand the United Nations mandate in Iraq so Iraq’s prime minister could revise a new draft that boosted the focus on humanitarian issues.

The United States and Britain today delayed a vote on a resolution that would expand the UN mandate in Iraq so that Iraq’s prime minister could revise a new draft which increased the focus on humanitarian issues.

IRAQ’S divided politicians should learn from the country’s football team of Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish players, whose “unity” helped them win the Asian Cup yesterday, a top US diplomat said.

The United Nations Security Council has voted to immediately close down its inspection bodies that played a pivotal role in monitoring Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction programmes under Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Iraq is heading in the right direction, but its leaders must understand US voters are increasingly impatient with the conflict according to departing US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.

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.

The half-brother of Saddam Hussein and the former head of Iraq’s Revolutionary Court were hanged before dawn today, two weeks and two days after the former dictator was executed in a disturbing scene that drew worldwide criticism.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani today called for the execution of two of Saddam Hussein’s co-defendants to be delayed.

The White House announced a shuffling of US military leaders in the Iraq war today as Congress’ new Democratic chiefs criticised plans president George W Bush is considering to boost US troop strength in the war zone.

The White House today announced a shuffling of US military leaders in the Iraq war today as Congress' new Democratic chiefs criticised plans President George W Bush is considering to boost US troop strength in the war zone.

A day after Saddam Hussein was sentenced to hang, the Shiite-dominated government offered a major concession to his Sunni backers that could see thousands of members of the ousted dictator's Baath party reinstated in their jobs.

Iraq’s High Tribunal today found Saddam Hussein guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to hang for the 1982 killing of 148 Shiites in the city of Dujail. The visibly shaken former leader shouted “God is great”.

Saddam Hussein’s chief lawyer walked out of a Baghdad court today after most of his requests were rejected, but the chief judge immediately appointed other lawyers to defend the deposed former Iraqi president.

US President George Bush’s top national security adviser said today that the Iraqis are starting to make the tough decisions needed to halt rising sectarian violence, but must do more to secure the nation – and do it quickly.

US President George Bush reviewed Iraq strategy with his top commanders and national security advisers, but indicated little inclination for major changes to an increasingly divisive policy.

A suicide bomber rammed a police checkpoint in northern Iraq with an explosives-laden vehicle today, killing more than a dozen people, the deadliest attack on a day when at least 25 people died in violence around the country.

Gunmen wounded an Iraqi general in south-east Baghdad today and a blast killed three people in the heart of the capital as President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair prepared for a meeting on Iraq strategy now that a new government is in place.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki says he believes Iraqi forces are capable of taking over security around the country within 18 months, but he did not mention a timetable for US-led coalition forces to leave.

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.

Suicide attackers wearing women’s robes blew themselves up today in a Shiite mosque in northern Baghdad, killing at least 79 people and wounding more than 164, police said.

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.

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.

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

Two British soldiers were killed in Amarah, 180 miles south-east of Baghdad, the Ministry of Defence reported, but gave no other details.

Iraq’s most influential Shiite political leader today called for Sunni-Shiite unity as religious figures sought to calm passions and pull the nation from the brink of civil war after the bombing of a Shiite shrine two days ago and a wave of deadly reprisal attacks.

A BOMB attack on one of Iraq's most revered Shi'ite shrines yesterday spawned mass protests and reprisal attacks against dozens of Sunni mosques.

Top US officials strongly condemned the bombing of a revered Shiite shrine today, calling it a desperate and despicable act designed to foment sectarian strife.

Insurgents exploded a suicide car bomb and launched two mortar shells at Iraq’s Interior Ministry during National Police Day celebrations today, killing 29 people and injuring 18.

THOUSANDS of angry Shi’ites rallied yesterday in Baghdad’s Sadr City slum against a spree of attacks that killed almost 200 people and to protest what they claim was American backing for Sunni Arabs politicians who have supported insurgent groups.

Thousands of angry Shiites today rallied in Baghdad’s Sadr City slum against a spree of attacks that killed almost 200 people and to protest what they claim was American backing for Sunni Arabs politicians who have supported insurgent groups.

Mystery continued to surround a firefight that broke out when US and Iraqi forces surrounded a house in the northern Iraq city of Mosul that was believed used by members of al-Qaida in Iraq. Eight insurgents and four Iraqi policemen died in the assault, officials said.

The top US diplomat in Iraq said Syria has become a hub for terrorists who want to stop democratic progress in Iraq and that US “patience is running out,” but he refused to specify what consequences Damascus might face.

Iraqi leaders again delayed a vote on a draft constitution, in another dramatic last-minute stand-off.

WITH the deadline for Iraq’s constitution rapidly approaching, the US ambassador to the country dismissed the suggestion yesterday that Iraqis may need a few more weeks to iron out differences.

A blinding sandstorm in Baghdad forced the postponement of a meeting scheduled by Iraqi political leaders to discuss issues blocking agreement on a new constitution, President Jalal Talabani’s office announced.

IRAQ’S president urged a spirit of compromise as political leaders gathered yesterday to try to resolve differences over a new constitution that is supposed to be approved by parliament next Monday.

THE US military said yesterday that seven marines had been killed by insurgents in western Iraq, pushing the death toll for Americans since the start of the war past 1,800.

The US military is considering offering protection to foreign diplomats in Baghdad after al-Qaida agents killed three Arab envoys this month.

AFGHAN intelligence officials have thwarted a plot to assassinate US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and arrested three Pakistanis armed with rocket propelled grenades and assault rifles, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said yesterday.

Afghan intelligence agents have scuttled a plot to assassinate outspoken US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, swooping down on a station wagon carrying three Pakistanis armed with Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, officials said today.

An independent commission will probe claims by all 15 opposition candidates that Afghanistan’s first direct presidential election was marred by incompetence and fraud, a top official said today in an attempt to quash claims the vote was illegitimate.

At least 16 people, many of them children, were killed in explosions at the office of a US security contractor in Afghanistan’s capital and a school in the south east as the country moves towards its first post-Taliban election.