A suicide bomber in the northern city of Tikrit and gunmen in the Iraqi capital killed a total of seven people today, officials said.

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.

Suspected al-Qaida militants killed five Iraqi soldiers today in a brazen dawn attack at a western Baghdad checkpoint and planted the terror group's black banner before fleeing the scene, officials said.

At least 12 people in Baghdad were killed by bombs targeting hundreds of thousands of pilgrims taking part in the final day of a Shiite religious holiday today.

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.

Insurgents bombed a polling station and lobbed grenades at voters in Iraq today, 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.

Two street cleaners were killed today by a bomb hidden in a rubbish heap in northern Baghdad.

A double truck bombing tore through a Shiite community near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul today, while a series of blasts struck Baghdad in a wave of pre-dawn violence which killed at least 40 people, according to officials.

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

Baghdad today announced plans to build a $3bn (€2.35bn) subway system to help cut pollution and ease traffic on the city’s chronically clogged streets.

More than 30 people were killed in Baghdad today when a suicide bomber blew themselves up amid a crowd that had gathered in the aftermath of an earlier explosion.

A suicide bomber struck a crowd of curious onlookers gathered around the site of another blast today, killing at least 22 people and wounding 42, police said.

An Iraqi cameraman and three of his family were arrested by the US military during a raid on their Baghdad home, a television station said today.

At least six people were killed and 20 others injured today in a double bomb attack outside the Baghdad office of an Iraq government agency which cares for Sunni mosques and shrines, witnesses and a hospital official said.

IRAQI security forces were on high alert yesterday around Baghdad and in the Sunni heartland north of the capital as the country marked the one-year anniversary of Saddam Hussein’s execution.

Iraq’s foreign minister today warned that a quick American military withdrawal from the country could lead to civil war and the collapse of the government, as pressure on the Bush administration for a pull-out grows.

US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker today said the American military would "respect the wishes" of the Iraqi government regarding a barrier being built around a Sunni enclave in Baghdad.

The Fallujah city council chairman, a critic of al-Qaida who took the job after his three predecessors were assassinated, was killed today – the latest blow in a violent internal Sunni struggle for control of an insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad.

Criticism mounted today over a wall US troops are building around a Sunni enclave surrounded by Shiite areas in Baghdad, with residents calling it “collective punishment”.

A suicide bomb exploded on a major bridge in Baghdad today, sending cars toppling into the Tigris river below, police and witnesses said.

Iraq’s national traffic police chief escaped an assassination attempt today when gunmen ambushed his convoy in Baghdad.

A suicide car bomb struck Baghdad’s Shiite militia stronghold today, killing at least 18 people as international envoys met in the Iraqi capital to talk about stabilising the violence-shattered country.

Two bombs struck Shiite targets in Baghdad today, killing a total of five people and wounding more than 10, police said.

Rage over the hanging of Saddam Hussein spilled into the streets in many parts of the Sunni Muslim heartland today, especially in Samarra where a mob of angry protesters broke the locks off the badly damaged Shiite Golden Dome mosque and marched through carrying a mock coffin and photo of the executed former leader.

A string of car bombs and other blasts killed at least 54 Iraqis on yesterday, including 17 outside Baghdad’s most venerated Sunni mosque.

Revenge-seeking militiamen seized six Sunnis as they left prayers and burned them alive with kerosene in a savage new twist to the brutality shaking the Iraqi capital.

Iraq’s High Tribunal today found Saddam Hussein guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to hang for the 1982 killing of 148 Shiites in the city of Dujail. The visibly shaken former leader shouted “God is great”.

Iraqi and US forces killed or captured more than 20 terrorist suspects, many linked with al-Qaida in Iraq, in a series of raids, the US command said today.

A car bomb in the mixed neighbourhood of al-Mashtal in eastern Baghdad killed two civilian pedestrians and injured five others today.

A series of bomb explosions in Baghdad today killed at least 20 people and injured 58, while armed robbers shot dead three people during a raid on a bank, police said.

Eleven people were killed and at least nine injured when a motorcycle bomb exploded in the courtyard of a Baghdad mosque this evening.

Five roadside bombs and two suicide car bombs exploded one after another in Baghdad today, killing a total of 12 Iraqis and wounding 37, 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.

THREE car bombs rocked northern Baghdad yesterday morning within a span of half an hour while another struck a Shi’ite holy city, killing at least 17 and wounding 44.

Car bombs killed at least 16 people and injured dozens others in Baghdad and a Shiite holy city today, dashing hopes that the formation of a new government alone would provide a quick end to the country’s violence.

Two car bombs rocked northern Baghdad neighbourhoods today while another struck a Shiite holy city, in attacks that left at least 16 dead and 49 wounded, police and provincial officials said.

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.

Sporadic clashes broke out today between gunmen and Iraqi security forces in a Sunni Arab district of northern Baghdad as soldiers sealed off streets and manned checkpoints a day after a major gunbattle there.

A car bomb explosion at a major crimes unit in central Baghdad killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 30 today, said police Lieutenant Colonel Falah al-Mohammadawi.

Roadside bombs targeting police patrols exploded in Baghdad and nearby Iskandariyah today, killing at least five people and wounding a dozen others.