Thousands of Shiite militiamen have paraded in Baghdad and several other cities in southern Iraq with heavy weaponry, signalling their readiness to take on Sunni militants who seized much of the country’s north.

Militants who seized large areas of Iraq’s Sunni heartland with lightning advances this week have pushed into an ethnically mixed province and captured two towns north east of Baghdad, officials said.

A car bomb has killed two civilians and wounded four more in eastern Baghdad on the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq, the day after a series of co-ordinated attacks left scores dead, officials said.

Iraq’s embattled prime minister has fought off an attempt to push him out of office, aided by divisions among his opponents and Iranian intervention on his behalf.

Iraqi Shiite militia fighters led a massive rally of followers of a hardline anti-American cleric today, marching in Baghdad in a show of defiance as Iraqi leaders weigh whether to keep US troops in the country beyond the end of the year.

Two car bombs tore through car parks packed with Shia pilgrims today in an Iraqi holy city, pushing the death toll from a week of attacks to more than 170.

Anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who led several Shiite uprisings against American forces in Iraq before travelling to neighbouring Iran three years ago, has returned to Iraq.

Iraq’s president has declared that he will not sign off on the hanging of Tariq Aziz, joining the Vatican and others in objecting to the death sentence for the man who for years was the international face of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Iraq’s prime minister Nouri al-Maliki will return to power for another four-year term after MPs working late into the night agreed on a deal to form a new government.

Thousands of Iraqis marched through the city of Najaf today for an annual march to mark the anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.

US president Barack Obama praised Iraqis who turned out to vote in national elections despite “acts of violence” to discourage participation.

INSURGENTS bombed a polling station and lobbed grenades at voters yesterday, killing 36 people in attacks aimed at intimidating those taking part in an election that will determine whether the country can overcome the sectarian divisions that have plagued it since the 2003 US-led invasion.

Iraqis voted today in an election testing the mettle of the country’s still-fragile democracy as insurgents killed 25 people across the Iraq, unleashing a barrage of mortars intent on disrupting the historic day.

Iraqis voted today in an election testing the mettle of the country’s still-fragile democracy as insurgents killed eight people across the capital with a barrage of mortars intent on disrupting the day.

Abu Ghraib prison inmates rioted for a second straight day today to demand better conditions, setting fire to mattresses and seizing an assault rifle from a guard before authorities said the situation was brought under control.

Gay men are being murdered across Iraq in a systematic campaign by militia, a human rights group said today.

A booby-trapped motorcycle exploded in a crowded bazaar today in Baghdad, killing at least 19 people, Iraqi officials said, part of an apparent trend toward increased use of motorcycles to thwart stepped up security measures.

A special committee set up by Iraq’s prime minister today began an investigation into allegations of widespread abuse and torture in Iraq’s prisons, which is threatening to become a major issue ahead of January 30 national elections.

Saddam Hussein’s former foreign minister Tariq Aziz was convicted of crimes against humanity and jailed for 15 years today for the 1992 execution of 42 traders accused of profiteering while Iraq was under UN sanctions.

The family of a journalist jailed for throwing his shoes at US President George Bush today claimed a delay in bringing him before a court meant he had been too severely beaten to appear in public

Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets today to demand the release of a reporter who threw his shoes at President George Bush.

Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets today to demand the release of a reporter who threw his shoes at President George Bush during a press conference.

A rocket struck near a UN compound in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad today, killing two foreigners and wounding 15 other people, according to UN and military officials.

Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered most of his militiamen to disarm but said yesterday he will maintain elite fighting units to resist the Americans if a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops is not established.

Followers of Muqtada al-Sadr accused the Iraqi government of targeting their political movement as security forces arrested 20 policemen linked to the anti-American cleric.

A Shiite militia leader believed to command an assassination squad in Basra has been captured during a raid in Baghdad.

A car bomb exploded near the Iranian Embassy today in Baghdad, killing at least two civilians and wounding five, police said.

Shiite groups brokered a reported ceasefire today with militants fighting US and Iraqi forces in Baghdad’s Sadr City as the country’s army launched an offensive against al-Qaida’s main bastion in Iraq – the northern city of Mosul.

US and Iraqi troops have killed 38 militants in fierce clashes in Baghdad, including 22 who attacked a military checkpoint in a Shiite militia stronghold, the US military said today.

Rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said today that his threat to unleash an “open war” unless a crackdown against his Mahdi Army militia is ended applied only to foreign troops, not Iraqis.

A US military spokesman says 12 “criminal fighters” have been killed in an “uptick” in clashes in Baghdad’s main Shiite district of Sadr City.

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr issued a “final warning” to the Iraqi government to halt the US-Iraqi crackdown against his followers or he would declare “open war until liberation”.

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr tonight threatened a new uprising if a US-Iraqi crackdown against his followers continues.

Twelve people died in overnight clashes in Baghdad’s Sadr City district, which has become a chief battleground between US and Iraqi forces and the Mahdi Army of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, police and hospital officials said today.

A roadside bomb killed an American soldier in Baghdad today, capping the bloodiest week for US troops in Iraq this year. Clashes persisted in Shiite areas, even as the biggest Shiite militia sought to rein in its fighters.

Shiite militants fought US and Iraqi forces around Baghdad’s Shiite district of Sadr City early today despite a call for calm by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr following the assassination of one of his top aides.

A senior aide to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was today assassinated in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf.

SHI’ITE cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened yesterday to lift a seven month freeze on his Mahdi army militia if the Iraqi government does not halt attacks on his followers or set a timetable for a US withdrawal.

The American general commanding the Iraq war today called for an end to troop withdrawals claiming they would jeopardise recent security gains.

Iraq’s prime minister pledged to expand his crackdown on Shiite militias to Baghdad, despite a mixed performance so far against militants in the southern city of Basra.

An American airstrike aimed at Basra militants was feared to have killed at least three civilians.

Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone came under renewed attack today, less than 24 hours after anti-Western Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr told his forces to stand down following a week of clashes with government security forces.

The Iraqi government has welcomed an order by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to pull his fighters off the streets.

British ground forces today became involved in the fighting in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, firing artillery at a mortar team, a spokesman for the British said.