A suicide bomber driving a minibus blew himself up in front of the Baghdad office of a popular Arabic-language satellite news channel early today, killing four people, police and hospital officials said.

Four policemen were killed today in one of a series of fatal attacks in Iraq, officials said.

Two separate suicide attacks in Iraq killed at least 34 people and wounded scores more today, shattering more than a week of relative calm.

Twenty-two people, including three children, were killed today when a suicide car bomb exploded outside a residential complex belonging to a state-run oil company in Iraq.

A suicide truck bomber attacked a police station in one of Iraq’s major oil hubs today, killing at least seven people and injuring 13 in an area home to many refinery workers and engineers, police said.

A suicide car bomber attacked a police station on the outskirts of one of Iraq’s major oil hubs today, killing at least four policemen and injuring eight, police said.

Two Iraqi suicide car bombers trying to murder a local police chief and a US-supporting Sunni leader killed at least 18 people today.

At least 19 people were killed and 26 wounded today when a suicide truck bomber targeted a police gency in northern Iraq.

Suicide bombers have struck at a central Baghdad hotel and four other targets across Iraq today, in a surge of attacks that have left at least 29 people dead.

A suicide bomber blew himself up in a central Baghdad hotel today, killing seven people.

Iraq security forces have today captured a provincial leader of al-Qaida in Iraq during an operation north of Baghdad, which also left two of his followers dead.

A suicide bomber rammed a police checkpoint in northern Iraq with an explosives-laden vehicle today, killing more than a dozen people, the deadliest attack on a day when at least 25 people died in violence around the country.

A car bomb killed five people today and wounded another 34 after it exploded near a restaurant in central Baghdad, police said.

Two Iraqi soldiers were killed and 10 more injured early today when a suicide car bomb slammed into a checkpoint in northeast Baghdad, police said.

Gunmen have killed at least nine people in separate attacks in northern Iraq and in the capital Baghdad.

A suicide bomber blew himself up among mourners at a funeral in Saddam Hussein’s hometown today, killing at least 10 people and injuring another 18, police said.

BOMBINGS and shootings across Iraq killed at least 63 people yesterday, including 24 people in a bus destroyed by a roadside bomb and a British soldier in a mortar attack in the south.

At least 44 people were killed today in Iraq’s spiralling violence, including 20 soldiers whose bus was blasted by a roadside bomb.

A bomb planted between a Sunni mosque and a youth centre exploded during prayers, killing four people and wounding another nine, police said.

Gunmen killed two civilians in Tikrit who were employed by US troops, while reports of sectarian attacks elsewhere in Iraq remained low, police said today.

A car bomb exploded in northern Iraq today, killing 12 people who had gathered around the vehicle after discovering a corpse inside.

Germany’s Foreign Minister said today that two German men taken hostage in Iraq more than three months ago had been released unharmed and were safe.

An Iraqi militant group have threatened to kill two German engineers held hostage since January unless prisoners held by US forces are freed.

Two suicide bombers struck a police station south of Baghdad today, blowing themselves up in an attack that wounded 11 policemen and a female bystander.

More than 50 Iraqis died today in violence including a car bombing that killed 25 people in the third major attack on a police station in three days.

Al-Arabiya TV today aired footage of two German hostages surrounded by their kidnappers who threatened to kill them unless the German government doesn’t meet their demands.

Aljazeera television broadcast a videotape today showing two German engineers abducted this week in northern Iraq.

Gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms today seized two German engineers working at a detergent plant near the northern Iraqi town of Beiji, police said.

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.

Iraqi police in Beiji said US aircraft bombed a house last night and that seven people were killed and four injured, Capt Arkan Jassim said.

LONG lines formed at petrol stations in Baghdad yesterday as word spread that Iraq's largest oil refinery had shut down in the face of threats against truck drivers, and fears grew of a petrol shortage.

Long lines formed at gas stations in Baghdad today as word spread that Iraq’s largest oil refinery had shut down in the face of threats against truck drivers, and fears grew of a petrol shortage.

Iraq’s largest oil refinery has been shut down because of the deteriorating security situation in the region, Minister of Oil Ibrahim Bahar el-Ulom said today.

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.

Five US soldiers were killed today and five others were wounded in a pair of roadside bombings in northern Iraq, the US military said.

INSURGENTS using explosives set fire to the main oil pipeline in northern Iraq yesterday.

Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, arrived in Baghdad today on his first visit to Iraq since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein to discuss plans for an Iraqi reconciliation conference.

THE US military said yesterday that seven marines had been killed by insurgents in western Iraq, pushing the death toll for Americans since the start of the war past 1,800.

Insurgents launched fresh attacks, killing four US soldiers and four Iraqi security troops in roadside bombings, as partial returns from the historic elections show a Shiite alliance with ties to Iran rolling up a strong lead over pro-US Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

A roadside bomb exploded near an American patrol in northern Iraq, killing two US soldiers and wounding five others, the US command said today.

IRAQIS defied violence that killed 44 people and calls for a boycott to cast ballots in Iraq's first free election in a half-century yesterday.

Iraqis defied violence and calls for a boycott to cast ballots in Iraq’s first free election in a half-century today.

Iraqis turned out to vote today in their country’s first free election in a half-century, defying insurgents who launched deadly suicide bombings and mortar strikes at polling stations. By midday, at least 36 people were dead but the violence had slowed and voting picked up.

Iraqis turned out to vote today in their country’s first free election in a half-century, defying insurgents who launched deadly suicide bombings and mortar strikes at polling stations.