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.

At least 55 people were killed and 105 wounded today when two car bombs and a bomb hidden in a plastic bag struck market districts in central Baghdad, police said.

The prime minister of Iraq today ordered an investigation into the conduct of Saddam Hussein’s execution in a bid to learn who in the group of witnesses taunted the former Iraqi leader in the last minutes of his life and leaked a mobile-phone video of his death to an Arab satellite television station and website.

Sunni Muslims, angered by the execution of Saddam Hussein and the hurried and undignified way his hanging was carried out, have taken to the streets of Iraq in mainly peaceful demonstrations.

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