American forces raided radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s stronghold in Baghdad and killed five suspected militia fighters in air strikes today, a day after he resurfaced to end nearly four months in hiding and demand US troops leave Iraq, .

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.

IRAQI authorities yesterday filed genocide charges against Saddam Hussein, accusing him and six co-defendants in the 1980s crackdown that killed an estimated 100,000 Kurds.

A car bomb exploded today in a mostly Shiite area of eastern Baghdad, killing at least 10 and wounding 28, police said.