16 killed in Iraq on third anniversary of US-led invasion

IRAQ marked the third anniversary of the US-led invasion with a fresh spate of killings, a deadlock over the new government and warnings of civil war as Shi’ites gathered in the south for a major religious ceremony.

Sixteen people were killed in attacks around the country in a reminder of the endemic violence that has convulsed Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime and jeopardised US plans to install a showcase Arab democracy.

In Baghdad, nine corpses, showing signs of torture and gunshot wounds, turned up around the city in what has become a daily ritual following the February 22 dynamiting of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra that ushered in a wave of sectarian violence.