Baghdad  - Iraqi security forces arrested 35 high-ranking security officials who, they said, were attempting to revive the Baath Party of former president Saddam Hussein, al-Arabiya TV reported on Thursday quoting sources in the Iraqi ministry of interior.

The 35 officials were accused of attempting a secret coup d'etat against the Iraqi government of Nuri al-Maliki.

The officials were arrested over the last three days under a judicial order. Their arrest was confirmed by the ministry of Interior and al-Maliki's office.

Baghdad - Montazer al-Zaidi, the TV reporter who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush on Sunday, has not been tortured and has been well-treated during his detention, one of his lawyers said Thursday.

"Al-Zaidi is in good health and was not tortured during his detention," one of his lawyers told the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency. The lawyer spoke spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Al-Zaidi, who has worked for the Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya since 2005, is being tried at the Iraqi Criminal Court for throwing his shoes at Bush during a press conference on Sunday as he shouted in Arabic: "This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog."

Baghdad, Dec 18 : Thirty five Iraqi officials including four Iraqi generals have been arrested over the past three days, with some of them accused of quietly working to reconstitute Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.

The arrests, confirmed by officials from the Ministries of the Interior and National Security as well as the Prime Minister's office, included four generals, one of whom, General Ahmed Abu Raqeef, is the ministry's director of internal affairs.

The officials also said that the arrests had come at the hand of an elite counter-terrorism force that reports directly to the office of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, The New York Times reported.

Baghdad  - Iraqi Parliamentary Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani announced his resignation on Wednesday after lawmakers engaged in a quarrel over the reporter who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush.

Al-Zaidi, who has worked for the Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya since 2005, faces the Iraqi Criminal Court for throwing his shoes at Bush during a press conference on Sunday as he shouted in Arabic: "This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog."

Baghdad - Montazer al-Zaidi, the TV reporter who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush, was not present in court when his trial opened Wednesday, al-Zaidi's brother said Wednesday.

Cited by Iraq's INA news agency, Durgham al-Zaidi said the defendant's three brothers and three lawyers were in attendance at the trial that is taking place in the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad.

In court, the officiating judge said he met with Montazer al-Zaidi privately and that he was "cooperative."

Baghdad - Most foreign troops will have to exit Iraq by mid-2009 under draft legislation approved Wednesday by the Iraqi government.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the measure must now be approved by the parliament before it can be implemented.

Aside from US troops, who will operate in Iraq through 2011 under a separate agreement, all foreign troops would be scheduled to leave Iraq no later than July 31, 2009, al-Dabbagh said.

The government would keep the right to ask some countries to extend their stay in Iraq for training missions, he added.