Baghdad - Iraq has told Iran that its security pact with the US would not threaten Iran's national sovereignty, Iraq's foreign minister said on Tuesday.

"The security agreement has no articles that threaten the security of neighbouring countries," Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said in a statement following his meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hassan Kazemi, according to a ministry statement.

"Iraq will not be used as a base for attacks on neighbouring countries," Zebari added.

Zebari and US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker signed the Status of Forces Agreement in Baghdad on Monday.

Baghdad  - One of the few positive stories coming out of war- torn Iraq in recent years has been the success of their national football teams.

Since 2003, when the country sent an under-23 team to the Asian Cup and managed to qualify for the quarter-finals, Iraqi teams have been grabbing their fair share of international headlines.

In 2004, the international media followed their Cinderella story at the Olympic Games in Athens as the same under-23 team reached the semi-finals of the Olympic football tournament and finished fourth.

But if Iraqi fans thought it could get no better, they were in for a pleasant surprise as Iraq won the silver medal in the football tournament at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.

Baghdad  - Iraq's parliament on Monday completed the first reading of the final draft of the country's security pact with the United States, as opponents continued to denounce it.

As lawmakers were considering the deal, one policeman was killed and more than 30 people were injured in attacks across Iraq.

The 275-member house is set to review the pact over the coming days and vote on the deal by November 24, deputy speaker Khalid al- Attiyah said in a press conference.

Baghdad - Iraq's parliament convened Monday for a first reading of the final draft of the country's security pact with the United States, a day after the Iraqi cabinet approved the deal.

The 275-member house would review the pact over the coming days and vote on the deal by November 24, deputy speaker Khalid al-Attiyah said in a press conference.

The agreement outlines the timeframe for the withdrawal of US troops and the legal basis for the future presence of US troops in Iraqi after a United Nations Security Council mandate expires at the end of this year.

Baghdad - Dozens of people were injured in a car bomb a

Baghdad  - A car bomb attack on a police patrol in north-east Iraq killed 10 civilians and injured 14 on Sunday, a security source in Diala province said.

The explosion took place near a courthouse in the al-Wihda neighborhood of Jalawlaa, 212 kilometres north-east of Baghdad, the al-Buratha news agency reported.

Earlier, a bomb went off in north-eastern Baghdad, killing three

people and wounding seven, police said.

The bomb was detonated near near a checkpoint in al-Shaab manned by members of a pro-US tribal force known as the Awakening Councils.

A civilian and two tribal members died. Seven tribal members were among the wounded, a police source told Voices Of Iraq (VOI) news agency.