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

Up to 100 people were feared dead in a wave of co-ordinated explosions across Baghdad today.

The US commander in Iraq says Americans remain “absolutely committed” to withdrawing all combat troops from urban areas by the end of the month.

THE US government asked an appeals court to halt the release of disturbing images of prisoner abuse, saying the photos could incite violence in Pakistan as well as in Iraq and Afghanistan.

IN a U-turn, US President Barack Obama is fighting the release of dozens of new photos showing US personnel allegedly abusing prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, a White House official said.

British forces handed military command in southern Iraq to the US today in a ceremony marking the beginning of the end of the UK’s controversial involvement in the country.

US President Barack Obama told politicians he plans to withdraw most American troops from Iraq by August 2010 but leave tens of thousands behind to advise Iraqi forces and protect US interests, congressional officials said.

An Iraqi MP said today that parliament has reached a compromise to approve a resolution allowing all foreign troops other than Americans to stay in Iraq until July 2009.

The top US general in Iraq says American troops will move into southern Iraq early next year to replace departing British forces.

David Petraeus, the American general who presided over Iraq’s pull back from the brink of all-out civil war, relinquished his command today to General Ray Odierno under a cascade of official thank-yous.

US and Iraqi forces launched a major operation today to strike against al-Qaida in Iraq and other extremists, an American commander announced.

Five more US troops killed in Iraq yesterday made 2007 the deadliest year yet for American forces.

The US military believes that five British security guards kidnapped in May in Baghdad are still alive, the No 2 American commander in Iraq said today.

Iraq’s prime minister called a crisis conference in a bid to reach open a dialogue tomorrow among Iraq’s divided factions, to shore up his shaky government and unstick the stalled political process.

A parked car bomb exploded near a market in a predominantly Shiite area in Baghdad today, killing at least 21 people and wounding more than 60, police said.

The UN Security Council today condemned the terrorist attack on Iraq’s parliament “in the strongest terms” and called for national dialogue and reconciliation to restore peace and security in the violence-wracked country.

HE was grubby, dishevelled and appeared compliant. Those who loved or hated Saddam Hussein could not believe that the man who for decades terrorised his people and neighbours could surrender to US troops without even firing a shot.

US occupation authorities took the apparent gamble of cleaning up the appearance of the bodies of Saddam Hussein’s sons in a bid to convince sceptical Iraqis that Uday and Qusay are really dead.

The American military say they have captured up to 10 members of Saddam Hussein's personal security guard in a house south of his hometown, Tikrit.

US forces, acting on a tip from an informant, have arrested several men believed to be part of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s personal security detachment during a raid south of Tikrit, a senior US military commander said yesterday.

The Dow Jones industrials posted their fourth straight winning week today after surprisingly strong home sales and durable-goods orders bolstered investor hopes for a sustainable economic recovery.

US doctors cosmetically improved the bodies of Saddam Hussein's sons today -their faces reconstructed to appear as lifelike as possible after still photos failed to convince many Iraqis they were really dead.

US troops captured five to ten people believed to be members of Saddam Hussein's personal security detail in a raid on a house, it was revealed today.

AMERICAN forces have taken into custody Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, Saddam's presidential secretary and number four on the US most-wanted list of Iraqi leaders, a US official said yesterday.

ARABS and Turks in Iraq’s main northern oil city threatened yesterday to boycott a vote for mayor as an American general approved six final members of a city council charged with healing ethnic feuding that threatens the region’s stability.

A former top official of Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard, and cousin of the deposed leader, surrendered to coalition forces in Baghdad today, the US military said.