Radical cleric 'to end boycott of Iraq govt'

Radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has agreed to allow supporters to rejoin the Iraqi government after a three-week boycott, officials close to the militia leader said, as political rivals pushed to form a coalition without him.

The US military announced the deaths of three Marines and one US sailor from combat wounds in Iraq’s western Anbar province, an insurgent stronghold. In December, 75 American troops have been killed; at the current rate, the number of US combat deaths this month could meet or exceed the previous monthly record for 2006.