Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said today that the Iraqi army and police are capable of keeping security in the country when American troops leave “any time they want,” though he acknowledged the forces need further weapons and training.

US-backed Iraqi troops have engaged in a major security sweep to break illegal militias’ hold on Baghdad, arresting the Iraq health ministry’s second-highest official.

US-backed Iraqi troops killed 250 insurgents allegedly plotting to kill pilgrims at a major Shiite Muslim religious festival during a day-long battle near Najaf.

The bodies of 14 Sunni Arabs who had been kidnapped from their homes in Baghdad by men disguised as policemen were found in the capital on this morning, Iraqi authorities said.

Iraqi police today found the blindfolded bodies of three people dumped in two separate parts of eastern Baghdad, while the US military command in Iraq said two American soldiers had been killed.

Two near simultaneous explosions in north-eastern Baghdad today killed three people and wounded 16, a day after the defence ministry said security forces would expand a crackdown into the eastern parts of the capital, including Shiite militia strongholds.

Masked Shiite gunmen went on a rampage in western Baghdad today, pulling Sunni Arabs from cars and off the street and killing at least 41 people, police said.

Forensic experts unearthing the skeletons of Saddam Hussein’s alleged victims have found an unexpected wealth of identification cards in mass graves, investigators say.

One of Saddam Hussein’s lawyers was killed today after he was abducted from his home by men wearing police uniforms in Baghdad.

Insurgents killed more than three dozen people in a series of attacks that foiled stringent security measures around Baghdad after an al-Qaida threat to stage bloody reprisals for the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki released nearly 600 detainees today, making good on a pledge intended to ease feuding between Sunni Arabs and Shiites.

Masked gunmen stopped two minivans carrying students north of Baghdad, ordered the passengers off, separated Shiites from Sunni Arabs, and killed the 21 Shiites “in the name of Islam", a witness said.

Gunmen killed 21 people, including a dozen students, after they dragged them off buses north-east of Baghdad.

Iraq’s prime minister declared a state of emergency in once peaceful and oil-rich Basra, as the sectarian and militia violence engulfing the country’s capital spread to its southern economic heartland.

A roadside bomb ripped through a bus today killing 10 people working for an organisation opposed to the Iranian regime, police said.

A bomb killed 19 people and wounded 58 in a Shiite district of Baghdad today as parliament prepared to inaugurate the country’s first fully constitutional government since the collapse of Saddam Hussein three years ago.

Four US soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter were killed by a roadside bomb north-west of Baghdad today and at least two dozen Iraqis died in violence across the country, as politicians put the final touches on a national unity government they hope will restore security to Iraq.

A string of deadly attacks ripped through the Iraqi capital today, killing at least 26 people and wounding nearly 70, police said.

Gunmen killed the son of Iraq’s top judge along with two of his bodyguards and dumped their bodies in one of Baghdad’s Sunni Arab neighbourhoods, officials said today.

An armed confrontation between two Iraqi army units left one soldier and one civilian dead, raising questions about the US-trained force’s ability to maintain control at a time when sectarian and ethnic tensions are running high.

In a bid to curb sectarian violence, Iraq’s government plans to restructure the capital’s security forces by putting all police officers and paramilitary soldiers under one commander.

A suicide bomber blew himself up while standing in a line of recruits outside Fallujah’s police headquarters today, killing at least 15 people and wounding 30.

POLICE discovered bodies of 20 Iraqis yesterday — apparent victims of sectarian killings the US hopes the new government can end.

Seven car bombs exploded across the Iraqi capital Baghdad today, killing at least 10 people and wounding dozens, as politicians met to try to finalise a new Cabinet.

Six car bombs exploded in Baghdad today, killing at least six people and wounding dozens, as Iraqi politicians met to try to finalise a new Cabinet.

Iraq’s president failed in a bid to order parliament into session by next Sunday, further delaying formation of a government and raising questions about whether the political process can withstand the unrelenting violence or disintegrate into civil war.

A STRING of explosions in Baghdad and north of the capital killed at least 14 Iraqis and wounded 52 yesterday.

IRAQI security forces in bulletproof vests took to the streets in the bloodied capital yesterday to enforce a daytime ban on private vehicles.

Sunni Arabs are ready to end their boycott of talks to form a new government if rival Shiites return mosques seized in last week’s sectarian attacks and meet other unspecified demands, a Sunni official said today.

A WAVE of sectarian rage swept across Iraq yesterday leaving at least 110 people dead and the violence-wracked country careering towards civil war.

Gunmen in Iraq shot dead 47 civilians and left their bodies in a ditch near Baghdad today as militia battles and sectarian reprisals followed the bombing of a sacred Shiite shrine yesterday.

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.

GUNMEN wearing Iraqi special forces uniforms yesterday kidnapped a wealthy banker and his son after killing five of their bodyguards.

Iraq’s Interior Ministry has launched an investigation into claims that a police death squad has been operating in Iraq, a top official said today.

A bomb planted near a tea stand killed eight men waiting for jobs in a largely Shiite area of Baghdad today and six other people died in scattered violence across the country.

INSURGENTS fired rocket-propelled grenades at the home of an Iraqi police officer yesterday, killing his four children and his brother and wounding his wife.

Shiite religious parties captured the biggest number of parliament seats in last month’s election but not enough to govern without partners, according to the first official returns.

The most influential politician in Iraq today issued a veiled warning to Sunni Arabs that Shiites would not allow substantive amendments to the country’s new constitution, including to the provision that keeps the central government weak in favour of strong provincial governments.

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.

GUERRILLAS killed 10 Iraqi policemen and soldiers in attacks north of Baghdad yesterday, while the capital itself was rocked by five major explosions that left at least eight dead.

Sunni Arab and secular political groups joined forces today to decide whether to reject the results of last week’s parliamentary election and call for a revote.

The trial of Saddam Hussein resumed this morning after a two-week break, and the former leader – who had refused to attend the last session – was in court.

Sunni Arabs and a key secular party charged that parliamentary elections were tainted by fraud, and demanded an inquiry into preliminary results showing the governing Shiite religious bloc with a larger than expected lead.

IRAQ’S electoral commission released partial and preliminary results today from the last week’s elections that showed Shiite and Kurdish parties dominating in provinces where they are the predominant group.