Baghdad  - The Iraqi Ministry of Oil has managed a significant increase in oil exports that surpassed expectations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a ministry spokesman said Wednesday.

The country's oil exports have hit 1.88 million barrels per day, 11-per-cent higher than the IMF expected this year, Assem Jihad told the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency.

The ministry has largely cut down on oil derivatives' imports throughout the current year to one billion dollars, compared to four billion dollars in the previous years, Jihad added.

Baghdad  - Three US soldiers were killed in a road accident in southern Iraq, pushing up the number of US troops killed in December to nine, the US military said Wednesday.

The deaths bring the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq since the March 2003 US-led invasion to 4,216, according to the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency.

November 2004, which witnessed fierce battles between US forces and armed groups in Falluja, Anbar province, remains the month that saw the highest ever US death toll with 137.

Baghdad, Dec 24: In a significant development, the Government of Iraq has decided to rebuild the 15th century Sikh Guru Guru Nanak Dev's shrine which was destroyed in the 2003 war in Baghdad.

Talking to media here at his palace, Iraqi Vice President and senior politician Adil Abd-al-Mahdi has said that the government would rebuild the destroyed Guru Nanak Dev''s shrine in Baghdad.

He also thanked the Indian Spiritual Guru Sri Sri Ravishankar for taking up this issue with the Iraqi Government.

Baghdad  - Iraqi police on Tuesday arrested the suspected perpetrators of a restaurant bomb attack in Kirkuk that left 45 dead and 85 injured, including many women and children.

The attack earlier this month in a restaurant during the Muslim feast of sacrifice, Eid al-Adha, was the work of a suicide bomber, police said at the time.

Kurdish security forces, with the help of US forces, arrested members of an Islamist extremist group that claimed responsibility for the attack. Police also confiscated 250 kilograms of TNT and bombs.

Baghdad - The Iraqi parliament approved on Tuesday a resolution that will allow non-US foreign troops to stay in Iraq, as speaker of parliament resigned during a closed-door emergency session with lawmakers.

The resolution will allow non-US forces to remain in the country beyond December 31, when a United Nations mandate permitting the presence of foreign troops in the country expires.

Baghdad - Iraqi police on Tuesday arrested suspected perpetrators of a restaurant bomb attack in Kirkuk that left 45 dead and 85 injured including many women and children.

The attack took place earlier in December in a restaurant during the Muslim feast of sacrifice, Eid al-Adha, earlier in December, and was the work of a suicide bomber, police said at the time.

Kurdish security forces with the help of US forces arrested members of an Islamist extremist group, that claimed responsibility for the attack.

Police also confiscated 250 kilos of TNT and bombs.