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ISKANDARIYA - A mortar barrage killed two people and wounded four in a residential area of Iskandariya, police said.*************************EXCERPT****************************** BAGHDAD - The U.S. military said an airstrike in Arab Jabour in southern Baghdad killed seven al Qaeda suspects thought responsible for a large number of suicide car bombs.******************************************* HILLA - An elite Iraqi force arrested a suspected rogue militia leader on Friday who was responsible for building roadside bombs used against U.S. forces, the U.S. military said.NEAR BAGHDAD - Iraqi and U.S. soldiers arrested 42 suspected insurgents just south of Baghdad on Thursday, the U.S. military said. Those detained are...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- U.S.-led strike forces seized suspected Shiite death squad bosses Tuesday in raids that tested the fragile bonds between the government and a powerful militia faction allowing the Baghdad security crackdown to move ahead. The sweeps through the Sadr City slum were part of highly sensitive forays into areas loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has ridiculed the 2-week-old campaign for failing to halt bombings by suspected Sunni insurgents against Shiite civilians. Al-Sadr withdrew his powerful Mahdi Army militia from checkpoints and bases under intense government pressure to let the security push go forward. But the...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - 0227dvs-iraq-weapons U.S. and Iraqi forces staged raids in Baghdad's main Shiite militant stronghold Tuesday as part of politically sensitive forays into areas loyal to the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Troops have held back on broad sweeps through the teeming Sadr City slums since a major security operation began earlier this month, targeting militant factions and sectarian death squads that have ruled Baghdad's streets. Al-Sadr withdrew his powerful Mahdi Army militia from checkpoints and bases under intense government pressure to let the house-to-house security sweeps move ahead. But Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and others have opposed extensive...

Maliki hails crackdown in Baghdad Iraqi and US troops have set up additional checkpoints in Baghdad The Iraqi prime minister says there has been a reduction in sectarian killings and kidnappings since a Baghdad security plan was launched 10 days ago.Nouri Maliki says 426 suspected militants have been held and almost the same number killed since 14 February. On Saturday, at least seven people were killed and more than 30 injured in a series of attacks in the Iraqi capital. Separately, the Iraqi interior ministry said Iraqi and US troops killed dozens of Sunni militants north of Baghdad. 'Willing...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The U.S. military has detected a significant increase in the number of sophisticated roadside bombs appearing in Iraq and believes that orders to send components for them came from the "highest levels" of the Iranian goverment, a senior intelligence officer said Sunday. The officer, briefing reporters on condition he not be further identified, said that between June 2004 and last week, more than 170 Americans had been killed by the bombs, which the military calls "explosively formed projectiles." Those weapons are capable of destroying an Abrams tank. The officer said American intelligence analysts believe the explosives...

(Ali Al-Saadi) US military bootprints on a door in the Iraqi Health Ministry today, where the deputy minister was arrested for allegedly supporting sectarian violence (AliAL-Saadi/AFP/Getty) Sam Knight and agencies Iraq's deputy health minister was arrested by US and Iraqi soldiers for his alleged role in the country's sectarian conflict today in the first major act of the much-vaunted security plan to bring order to Baghdad. Hakim al-Zamili, a member of the radical Shia movement loyal to the cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, surrendered to American soldiers when they raided his first floor office in the Health Ministry this morning, witnesses...

Senate Republicans who earlier this week helped block deliberations on a resolution opposing President Bush's new troop deployments in Iraq changed course yesterday and vowed to use every tactic at their disposal to ensure a full and open debate. In a letter distributed yesterday evening to Senate leaders, John W. Warner (Va.), Chuck Hagel (Neb.) and five other GOP supporters of the resolution threatened to attach their measure to any bill sent to the floor in the coming weeks. Noting that the war is the "most pressing issue of our time," the senators declared: "We will explore all of our...

Seven Republican lawmakers threatened Wednesday to tie up Senate business until a resolution opposing President Bush's planned troop buildup gets a vote, saying they will try to attach the measure to future legislation. "The war in Iraq is the most pressing issue of our time. It urgently deserves the attention of the full Senate," said Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va), who sponsored the measure criticizing the White House plan to add 21,500 more troops to Iraq. Warner and six other GOP senators sent a letter to Senate leaders of both parties Wednesday evening. Among the signatories was Sen. George V....

Baghdad set for big security push The US currently has 132,000 soldiers in Iraq and is sending more A command centre for a joint US-Iraqi offensive aimed at restoring security in Baghdad is due to go into operation, US military officers have said.The planned crackdown will be "much more than this city has ever seen", a US adviser to the Iraqi army said. The centre is being set up two days after a suicide truck bomb killed about 130 people in a Shia area of Baghdad. The operation is being seen as a last-ditch effort to avert civil war...