US presidential hopeful John McCain arrived in Baghdad today for an unexpected visit with Iraqi and US diplomatic and military officials.

At least 14 people were killed early today in a US attack on a western Baghdad neighbourhood, police and residents said.

Two suicide car bombings struck soccer fans in Baghdad as they were celebrating Iraq’s victory in the Asian Cup semi-final today, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 100, officials said.

A car bomb struck revellers celebrating in Baghdad after Iraq’s soccer victory in the Asian Cup today, killing at least 11 people and wounding more than 30.

Dozens of Shiite villagers in northern Iraq were massacred by Sunni extremists, officials said today, while car bombs killed at least a dozen people in Baghdad.

Iraq’s foreign minister today warned that a quick American military withdrawal from the country could lead to civil war and the collapse of the government, as pressure on the Bush administration for a pull-out grows.

IRAQ’S Shi’ite vice president escaped an apparent assassination attempt yesterday after a bomb exploded in municipal offices where he was making a speech, knocking him down with the force of the blast that left at least 10 people dead.

At least 13 people were killed and 25 wounded in Iraq today when two bombs exploded in Baghdad's upmarket Mansour neighbourhood.

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 parked car bomb exploded today in Baghdad’s upmarket Mansour neighbourhood, killing at least six people and wounding 18 others.

Six bomb attacks in Baghdad killed at least 17 people and wounded more than 50 today, hours before a highly anticipated ceremony in which the US-led coalition was to hand over control of the country’s armed forces command to Iraqi authorities.

Bomb attacks targeting Iraqi police patrols in Baghdad left at least 18 people dead and 57 wounded this morning, police said.

A barrage of co-ordinated bomb and rocket attacks in eastern Baghdad killed at least 47 people and wounded more than 200 within half an hour, police and hospital officials said.

A pair of mortar rounds followed minutes later by a car bomb blasted Baghdad’s Karradah district today, killing a total of 24 people and wounding 46, police said.

A Russian Embassy official in Baghdad said today that one diplomat was killed and four diplomatic employees were abducted in the Iraqi capital.

A bomb in a parked car exploded today near a busy bus station in Baghdad, killing at least four civilians and wounding seven others, police said.

A roadside bomb targeting municipal workers exploded in Baghdad today, killing five of them and wounding two.

Two Iraqi journalists were found dead south of Baghdad today a day after they were stopped by men wearing police uniforms, the manager of their television station said.

A drive-by shooting killed a Shiite baker heading to work in Baghdad today, and the bullet-ridden bodies of four Iraqis were found in the capital.

A drive-by shooting killed a Shiite baker in Baghdad today. The bodies of two other Iraqis were found in the capital.

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

GUNMEN lined up 14 employees working at an electronics trading company in Baghdad yesterday and shot them all, killing eight and wounding six, police said.

Gunmen lined up 14 employees working at an electronics trading company in Baghdad this morning and shot them all, killing eight and wounding six, police said.

The UK authorities promised Norman Kember’s family and his church that they would not attempt a rescue unless they could be reasonably confident that no-one would be killed, it was claimed today.

Peace activist Norman Kember was back on British soil today after a 119-day hostage ordeal in Iraq.

Iraqi border guards have captured a Saudi who admitted he was involved in last month’s suicide attack on the Abqaiq oil facility in eastern Saudi Arabia, an Iraqi military spokesman said yesterday.

Sunnis and Shiites have traded bombings and mortar fire against mainly religious targets in Baghdad, killing at least 68 people after authorities lifted a curfew that had briefly calmed a series of sectarian reprisal attacks.

A suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt today in a line of people waiting to receive government payments, killing six other people and wounding about 30, including children.

Insurgents launched roadside bomb blasts and rocket-propelled grenade attacks north of Baghdad early today, killing at least nine people, including a policeman’s four children.

Iraqi security forces questioned terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the Fallujah area last year but released him because they didn’t realise who he was, the deputy interior minister said today.

Gunmen have abducted a French engineer in Baghdad, Iraqi police said today.

Insurgents attacked several US bases and government offices with mortars and rockets today before dispersing in Ramadi, the capital of western Iraq’s Anbar province.

Saddam Hussein’s lawyer blamed US-led “occupation forces” today for the killing of a second colleague in the trial and urged Arab leaders to “shoulder their responsibility” to combat disorder here that threatens the proceeding.

A brother of one of Iraq’s two vice presidents was shot and killed today on his way to work in Baghdad, officials said.

A HUGE car bomb exploded outside a popular restaurant in Baghdad’s upscale Mansour neighbourhood last nigh.

A huge car bomb exploded outside a popular restaurant in Baghdad’s upscale Mansour neighbourhood tonight, witnesses said.

Former hostage Roy Hallums – who was rescued on Wednesday from an isolated farmhouse near Baghdad – left Iraq for the US today, the military said.

Coalition Forces today rescued American hostage Roy Hallums and an Iraqi citizen from an isolated farm house south of Baghdad, a military statement said.

Three car bomb attacks near a bus station and hospital in Baghdad killed at least 43 people and wounded another 89 today, in the deadliest attacks in the capital in weeks. Survivors searched through charred buses and cars for signs of friends and relatives.

The US military is considering offering protection to foreign diplomats in Baghdad after al-Qaida agents killed three Arab envoys this month.

IRAQ'S transitional prime minister called yesterday for a speedy withdrawal of US troops as the top US commander said he believed a "fairly substantial" pullout could begin next spring and summer.

An indefinite curfew was imposed Wednesday for all vehicle and pedestrian traffic in the central Iraqi city of Samarra, following an attack on a US convoy in the area, the US military and Iraqi police said.

al-Qaida in Iraq claimed on the internet today that it has killed two Algerian diplomats kidnapped in Iraq, the second reported slayings of Arab envoys this month.

A growing number of Americans fear the war in Iraq is undermining the fight against terrorism and raising the risk of terrorist attacks in the US, a poll found.