Gunmen lined up 14 employees working at an electronics trading company in Baghdad this morning and shot them all, killing eight and wounding six, 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.

Anger over the alleged abuse of Iraqis by British forces prompted Basra Provincial Council to sever relations with the British on Tuesday, while two purported victims demanded compensation from London.

The radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (pictured) today called on his followers to end clashes with Shiite rivals so stalled talks on a new constitution can proceed.

Sectarian tension whipped through Iraq as thousands of Shiite and Sunni Muslim protesters mixed calls for an end to America’s occupation with stinging condemnations of each other.

US troops clashed with insurgents late today in the central Iraqi city of Ramadi, injuring at least seven people, witnesses and hospital officials said.

British troops took control of the offices of Muqtada al-Sadr in the southern Iraqi city of Basra today after clashing with militants loyal to the rebel cleric.

A mortar attack on the main mosque in the Iraqi city of Kufa killed 25 people and wounded 60 others today.

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has been wounded in the fighting in Najaf, his spokesman said today.

US MARINES backed by tanks and aircraft seized the heart of the holy Iraqi city of Najaf yesterday in a major assault on Shi'ite rebels, but they kept out of a site sacred to millions of Shi'ites around the world.

After masked gunmen in Iraq shot a blindfolded Turkish hostage three times in the head on a gruesome Internet video, Turkish truckers announced that they would stop hauling goods for US forces.

American forces fought with gunmen protecting rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s house in clashes that killed one woman and wounded three others in the Iraqi holy city of Kufa.

A car bomb exploded today near the gate to a US-run base north of Baghdad, killing six people and injuring 20 others, including two American soldiers.

Gunmen ambushed a convoy of Westerners on a highway in north Baghdad tonight, killing at least two people with a number of others believed to have been abducted, police and witnesses said.

At least 32 fighters loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr were killed when US followed Iraqi forces into a mosque in the holy city of Kufa, where rebels were said to be storing weapons.

Three British soldiers were injured in a blast in Basra as coalition troops clashed with forces of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr for a second day today. Four Iraqis were killed in an explosion in Baghdad.

THREE American soldiers and over 40 fighters loyal to a radical cleric were killed in another day of widespread bloodshed in Iraq yesterday.

A British foot patrol came under attack in the southern city of Amarah today, sparking a seven-and-a-half-hour gun battle with insurgents in the city centre that left five Iraqis dead and six British soldiers injured, witnesses and a British forces spokesman said.

Two US soldiers were killed when an explosion levelled part of a Baghdad building as they searched it for suspected production of “chemical munitions”.

THE US army laid siege to the holy Iraqi city of Najaf yesterday in a bid to capture a radical cleric leading an uprising against coalition forces.

SHI'ITE Muslim militants were in full control of two key Iraqi cities yesterday as violence escalated and Sunni fighters killed a US marine in the battle for Fallujah.

Iraqi militants and rebellious Shiites challenged the US-led occupation force on two fronts today, mounting a string of attacks across the south that left dozens of people dead.

A radical Iraqi cleric was branded an “outlaw” today and the US announced a warrant for his arrest, heightening a confrontation after his supporters clashed with coalition troops in battles that killed more than 60 people.

At least 22 Iraqis, eight US troops and one Salvadoran soldier died in one of the worst days of violence in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein