A car bomb struck a bakery crowded with customers lining up for bread today, killing at least 11 people as they ended their daytime Ramadan fast, officials said.

US President George Bush today accused Democrats of conducting a political debate on the war in Iraq while delaying action on money to upgrade equipment and give US troops a pay raise.

Suspected al-Qaida bombers have toppled the towering minarets of Samarra's revered Shiite shrine, dealing a bold blow to Iraqi hopes for peace and reopening old wounds a year after the mosque's Golden Dome was destroyed.

In a direct challenge to US President George Bush, Democrats in the House of Representatives today announced they will push legislation setting a timetable for the withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq.

The Pentagon has approved a request by the new US commander in Iraq for an extra 2,200 military police (MPs) to help deal with an anticipated increase in detainees during the current Baghdad security crackdown.

The US has botched the training of police in Iraq, members of the influential Iraq Study Group said today.

Gunmen in military uniforms today kidnapped shopkeepers and bystanders from a major commercial area in Baghdad, while nearly 30 people were killed or found dead elsewhere in Iraq.

SADDAM HUSSEIN’S capture followed information from a member of his family.

Saddam Hussein may not be talking freely to his American interrogators, but he has already provided information that led to the arrest of several top regime figures in Baghdad, a US general said today.

“My name is Saddam Hussein,” the fallen Iraqi leader told US troops in English as they pulled him out of a dank hole that had become his home.

WHEN darkness fell, the Americans moved into position, 600 of them, from infantrymen to elite special forces.

When darkness fell, the Americans moved into position, 600 of them, from infantrymen to elite special forces.

Saddam Hussein’s capture followed information from a member of a family “close to him”, it was revealed in Tikrit.

American forces captured a bearded Saddam Hussein, hiding in a hole in a farmhouse cellar near his hometown of Tikrit, the US military announced today.