British forces stepped up pressure on Shiite militants in the southern city of Basra, killing three in an overnight operation, the US and British military said today.

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, .

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr appeared in public for the first time in months to demand that US troops leave Iraq.

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr appeared in public for the first time in months today, delivering a fiery anti-American sermon to thousands of followers and demanding US troops leave Iraq.

A suicide car bomber flattened a restaurant in a busy market in the Shiite holy city of Kufa this morning, killing at least 16 people and wounding 70 in an attack sure to further enflame tensions between Iraq’s Sunni and Shiite populations.

At least 10 people were killed and 25 wounded today when a car bomb struck a market in the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Kufa.

Tens of thousands draped themselves in Iraqi flags and marched peacefully through the streets of two Shiite holy cities today, the fourth anniversary of Baghdad’s fall.

Thousands of faithful draped themselves in Iraqi flags and marched through the streets of two Shiite holy cities today to mark the fourth anniversary of Baghdad’s fall.

A bomb planted on a minibus killed 31 people in a fish market in a mostly Shiite town south of Baghdad today, while police imposed curfews in some Sunni areas to prevent any outbreak of violence after Saddam Hussein's execution.

Two bombs exploded in a market near a highly revered Shiite shrine in Najaf, Iraq, today, killing at least 24 people and injuring 30.

A SUICIDE car bomber detonated explosives in a crowd of labourers gathered across the street from a major Shi’ite shrine in southern Iraq yesterday, killing at least 53 people and wounding 105.

A suicide car bomber detonated explosives among a crowd of labourers across the street from a major Shiite shrine in southern Iraq today, killing 53 people and wounding 105.

A suicide car bomber detonated explosives among a crowd of labourers across the street from a major Shiite shrine in southern Iraq today, killing 43 people and wounding 64.

A SUICIDE car bomb tore through buses carrying Iranian pilgrims near a Shi’ite shrine in the holy city of Kufa yesterday, killing as many as 12 people and wounding 39.

A suicide car bomber attacked a group of Iranian pilgrims today as they were descending from tour buses at a Shiite shrine south of Baghdad, killing 12 people and wounding 39 – most of them Iranians.

A car bomb targeting Iranian pilgrims struck near a Shiite shrine in the holy city of Kufa today, killing at least 12 people and wounding 37, a local official and police said.

Insurgents killed a dozen Iraqi police and soldiers today during attacks in a province north of Baghdad, officials said.

Sectarian tension whipped through Iraq as thousands of Shiite and Sunni Muslim protesters mixed calls for an end to America’s occupation with stinging condemnations of each other.

THOUSANDS of Shi'ites, many waving the Koran over their heads, protested the US presence in Iraq yesterday after the detention of several supporters of a radical cleric.

A US army tank company commander told his court-martial today that his shooting of an unarmed Iraqi wounded in a chase was “honourable” and “the right thing to do”.

A US tank company commander pleaded not guilty today as he went on trial in Germany on charges related to the killing last year of a critically-wounded Iraqi.

A US army tank company commander accused of killing a member of a militia led by a radical Shiite cleric in Iraq will be court martialed, the US army said today.

US troops clashed with insurgents late today in the central Iraqi city of Ramadi, injuring at least seven people, witnesses and hospital officials said.

THOUSANDS of pilgrims streamed into the Imam Ali Shrine yesterday as militants handed the keys to Shi'ite religious authorities after Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric brokered a peace deal to end three weeks of fighting.

Militants filed out of the revered Imam Ali Shrine and turned its keys over to representatives of Iraq’s top Shiite cleric today in the wake of a peace agreement to end three weeks of fighting with US and Iraqi forces in this holy city.

Rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr today ordered his fighters to lay down their arms and leave Najaf and neighbouring Kufa.

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.

The government of Iraq has accepted the peace deal brokered by Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani to end the occupation of the holy Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf.

Iraq’s top Shiite cleric made a dramatic return to the violence-wracked city of Najaf today aiming to broker a peace deal to end more than three weeks of devastating fighting between US forces and Shiite militants.

Gunmen opened fire today on thousands of Shiite Muslim marchers heading from Kufa to the twin city of Najaf, killing at least one.

Iraq’s top Shiite cleric is on his way to Najaf today, armed with a new peace initiative and a call for Iraqis to march on the holy city, after he unexpectedly returned home from Britain.

A mortar attack on the main mosque in the Iraqi city of Kufa killed 25 people and wounded 60 others today.

IRAQ’S most powerful Shi’ite cleric arrived home from Britain yesterday and his aides called for a nationwide march to Najaf to end nearly three weeks of fierce fighting between US forces and Shi’ite militants in the holy city.

Explosions and gunfire shook Najaf’s Old City in a fierce battle between US forces and Shiite militants, who remained in control of a revered shrine here as negotiations dragged on for its handover to religious authorities.

SPORADIC gunfire, explosions and a US bombing raid shook the city of Najaf yesterday as militants retained control of a revered shrine, raising fears that a plan to end the crisis could collapse amid bickering between Shi'ite leaders.

Sporadic gunfire, explosions and a US bombing raid shook the city of Najaf today as militants retained control of a revered shrine, raising fears that a plan to end the crisis could collapse amid bickering between Shiite leaders.

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.

American forces fought with gunmen protecting rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s house in clashes that killed one woman and wounded three others in the Iraqi holy city of Kufa.

British forces clashed with gunmen loyal to rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the south-eastern Iraq for a second day, killing at least two insurgents.

British soldiers clashed with Shiite fighters loyal to rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in south-eastern Iraq today after they arrested one of the militia’s leaders.

A ROCKET slammed into an American logistics base yesterday near the city of Balad, killing two US soldiers and wounding 26 people, and saboteurs again blew up a key oil pipeline.

Rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr today ordered members of his militia to leave the Iraqi holy cities of Nafaj and Kufa unless they live there.

SHI'ITE gunmen seized a police station in Najaf yesterday in the first outbreak of fighting since an agreement to end weeks of bloody clashes between US troops and militia forces.