Three members of the Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi’s ’s family have been abducted from their Baghdad home, police said today.

Najaf’s Shiite uprising appeared to be weakening today as Iraqi forces moved to within 200 yards of the revered Imam Ali Shrine.

REBEL forces inside the Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf were warned yesterday they have “hours to surrender” or face attack from US and Iraqi forces.

Two US soldiers were killed when an explosion levelled part of a Baghdad building as they searched it for suspected production of “chemical munitions”.

United States soldiers today arrested a former Iraqi army major who is suspected of leading a Fedayeen cell in attacks on coalition forces, the US Army said.

AMERICAN troops opened fire on a truck carrying live chickens near the tense town of Fallujah, killing five civilians in the vehicle, including a father and his two sons, relatives said yesterday.