SUICIDE attackers wearing women's robes blew themselves up yesterday in a Shi'ite mosque in northern Baghdad, killing at least 79 people and wounding 164.

Suicide attackers wearing women’s robes blew themselves up today in a Shiite mosque in northern Baghdad, killing at least 79 people and wounding more than 164, police said.

The trial of Saddam Hussein resumes today – after Iraqi authorities said they had foiled an insurgent plot to fire rockets at the courtroom.

A suicide car bomber struck worshippers leaving a Shiite mosque in Tuz Khormato in northern Iraq today, killing at least 10 people and wounding 21 others.

THE speaker of Iraq’s Parliament last night announced a one-day extension in talks on Iraq’s new constitution.

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.

IRAQ’S most revered Shi’ite leader yesterday persuaded a rebel cleric to accept a deal ending a three-week uprising in Najaf, after returning to the holy city amid bloody clashes that killed at least 74 people.

At the United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan this evening welcomed efforts by al-Sistani to end three weeks of fighting in Najaf and urged all parties to respect the Imam Ali Mosque, which is revered by Muslims all over the world.

An aide said Iraq’s Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, currently in London after undergoing medical treatment, has agreed to take over holy shrine in Najaf from militants.

IRAQI leaders met for a second day yesterday to pick an interim national assembly, but fighting in Najaf dominated the event, piling pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to hold more talks with Shi’ite rebels.

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.

A FIREBRAND Shi'ite cleric yesterday defied demands from Iraq's interim government that his militia pull out of Najaf, after days of fierce clashes with US Marines who say they have killed 360 of his fighters.

Radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has agreed to withdraw his militia from Najaf and hand the city back to Iraqi police, the government said, raising hopes for an end to weeks of fighting with coalition forces.

Hundreds of hard-line students besieged the British Embassy in Tehran today in protest at the occupation of neighbouring Iraq.

BACKED by helicopters US tanks charged into Najaf yesterday and blasted positions held by fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who condemned the US in a sermon.

A powerful Shiite member of Iraq’s US-picked Governing Council raged against the occupation of the country during a eulogy at the funeral of his murdered brother attended by almost half a million people today.

BEATING their chests and calling for revenge, more than 300,000 Muslims began a two-day, 110-mile march yesterday to the holy city of Najaf to mourn a cherished Shi'ite leader assassinated in a car bombing.

Thousands of angry mourners called for vengeance today as they gathered outside Iraq’s holiest Shi-ite shrine where a day earlier a car bomb ripped through a crowd of worshippers, killing at least 85 people – including a leading cleric.

Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim had just delivered a sermon calling for Iraqi unity and Friday prayers were under way at Iraq’s holiest Shiite shrine when a car bomb exploded.

The death toll from the massive car bomb that exploded at Iraq’s holiest Shiite shrine rose to 85 today, with 140 injured.

IRAQI Shiite leader Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim was killed at the Imam Ali mosque in Najaf yesterday, along with at least 75 other people, just moments after delivering a sermon calling for unity.

A massive car bomb blew up outside the holiest mosque in Iraq today, killing at least 75 people including a top Shiite cleric just moments after he delivered a sermon calling for unity.

A massive car bomb blew up outside the holiest mosque in Iraq today, killing a top Shiite cleric just moments after he delivered a sermon calling for unity.

The Dubai-based al-Arabiya TV network has reported the death toll in a car bomb attack at an Iraqi holy shrine was at least 17.

American forces advanced into Iraq’s third city today, as the coalition continued to seize control across the north of the country.

US FORCES in Iraq grappled with looting and civil disorder, scattered gunfights, the murder of a Shi’ite religious leader and a suicide bomb attack that took American lives last night, one day after the euphoria that marked the end of Saddam Hussein’s rule.