Baghdad  - A bomber walked into a large group of mourners gathered for a funeral in the Iraqi province of Diyala on Monday evening and detonated the explosives strapped to his body, killing "many" and injuring "many more," police told an Iraqi news agency.

Baghdad - A bomber walked into a large group of mourners gathered for a funeral in the Iraqi province of Diyala on Monday evening and detonated explosives strapped to his body, killing "many" and injuring "many more," police told an Iraqi news agency.

A local police officer told Baghdad's Voices of Iraq news agency that it was not immediately clear how many died or were wounded in that attack. "But," he said, "the death toll will likely be high because of the strength of the blast."

Baghdad - Eighteen people were killed and at least 20 wounded in three bomb attacks apparently targeting Iraqi Sunni tribesmen who have joined with Iraqi and US forces to fight insurgents in central and western Iraq, police and media said Monday.

Two consecutive blasts rocked a market in the Nasr we al-Salam district of Abu Ghraib, 25 kilometres of Baghdad, Shakir Faza, an official with the local police, told German Press Agency dpa.

Baghdad - Turkish President Abdullah Gul arrived in Baghdad Monday at the beginning of a two-day visit, the first by a Turkish head of state to the country in 33 years.

Gul will discuss "issues of mutual concern" and "means of strengthening bilateral relations" in meetings with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Nasir al-Ani, head of the Iraqi president's office, said in a press release on Monday.

Washington, March 23 : As the Euphrates River dries up in Iraq's western Anbar province, ancient buildings are emerging from the river bed, which archaeologists can now access for the first time.

According to a report by NPR (National Public Radio), the receding waters of the Euphrates River have revealed ancient archaeological sites, some of which were unknown until now.

That's because former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had flooded these sites in the mid-1980s.

Baghdad  - An Iraqi tribal leader escaped an assassination attempt Sunday when gunmen attacked his house in the city of Hillah, Iraq security sources said.

Sheikh Fawaz Kamel Ahmed, leader of the al-Massoud tribe, was injured in the attack on his house in Hillah, 100 kilometres south of Baghdad.