- (AFP) -- A bus packed with university students was blown
apart by a landmine leaving three dead near Saddam Hussein's hometown in
northern Iraq.
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- The attack on the Tikrit university vehicle, described
as "cowardly" by the US military, came as thousands of Shiite
Muslims took to the streets of the southern city of Basra to support their
spiritual leader's call for elections.
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- Across the country, Iraqi dinars bearing the image of
Saddam were consigned to the history books as the US-led coalition declared
the end of a three-month changeover period to introduce a new post-war
currency.
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- Meanwhile, the top US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer,
was announced as a participant in next week's New York talks between the
United Nations and Iraq's interim Governing Council.
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- Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell of the US 4th Infantry
Division (4ID) said the bus explosion at 6:30 pm (1530 GMT) was a "cowardly
attack" claiming the lives of innocent civilians.
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- In the south, Shiites gathered from all corners of Basra,
500 kilometers (310 miles) from Baghdad, and the surrounding areas in answer
to a call by Ali Abdul Karim Safi al-Mussawi, representative of Grand Ayatollah
Ali Sistani.
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- "Yes, yes to Sistani; no, no to selection,"
shouted the demonstrators as they headed towards the city's Al-Abilla mosque.
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- Sistani has rejected the creation of caucuses that would
put in place by May a transitional assembly, which in turn would select
members of a caretaker government by June.
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- That arrangement was outlined in a November 15 agreement
between the US-led coalition and the Governing Council on the transfer
of power in occupied Iraq.
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- Meanwhile, in what is being touted as a major step forward
for Iraq, Thursday saw the final phasing out of old dinar banknotes bearing
Saddam's image.
-
- New dinars bearing less emotive images of Iraqi artefacts,
scholars and landmarks came into circulation three months ago, while the
old "Saddams" have been collected for destruction.
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- The deadline for the old currency came as the dinar reached
a new post-war peak against the dollar, appreciating at a rate that has
alarmed central bank chiefs and put the squeeze on many Iraqis who receive
their pay in dollars.
-
- Meanwhile, as Iraq sought a greater role for the United
Nations, current Governing Council president Adnan Pachachi told reporters
that Bremer would be attending the crucial talks in New York with UN chief
Kofi Annan.
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- Pachachi is to head the Iraqi delegation.
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- Whether Bremer would attend had been subject of speculation,
as Washington until now had declined to say if it would participate in
the meeting, as the White House has had an ambivalent relation with the
world body.
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- On the security front, seven Iraqis were killed by US
soldiers in three separate incidents Wednesday north of Baghdad, the army
said.
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- Soldiers shot dead six insurgents during two attacks
around the restive town of Baquba, a bastion of resistance and sympathisers
of the old regime, said Sergeant Robert Cargie.
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- Another rebel was gunned down just south of Tikrit.
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- Two Iraqis were also killed in a car bomb explosion Wednesday
in Baquba, as the US military moved closer to routing the last fugitives
from Saddam's Baath party, capturing a "most wanted" and tightening
the net on the regime's number two.
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- The US military announced the capture of Khamis Sarhan
al-Mohammad, a leading figure in the Baath who was said to be playing a
crucial role in attacks on coalition forces.
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- The arrest of Mohammad, who as Baath chairman in the
southern city of Karbala commanded a one-million-dollar bounty, leaves
13 still at large on the US military's "deck of cards" listing
the most wanted Iraqis.
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- US military police backed by tanks and fighting vehicles
raided Samarra in a pre-dawn operation Wednesday that netted four nephews
of Ezzat Ibrahim al-Duri, the most wanted of Saddam's lieutenants and his
former deputy.
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- There is a 10-million-dollar reward for Ibrahim for allegedly
masterminding anti-coalition attacks.
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- A top US general on Thursday said Ibrahim's capture would
spell the end of the anti-coalition resistance in Iraq, but warned that
other dangers lurked in the shape of rising nationalism, foreign fighters
and home-grown radicals.
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- "Once he (Ibrahim) is in custody, that will mark
the end of the former regime's resistance," said Major General Ray
Odierno, whose 4ID troops captured Saddam near Tikrit on December 13.
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