Baghdad - Iraqi MP Mithal al-Alusi, controversial in Iraq for his contacts with Israel, said on Saturday that he fears for his life as the Iraqi government has stopped paying for his personal security as part of a decision to strip him of his parliamentary immunity.

The Iraqi Parliament made the decision to punish the al-Alusi following a visit to Israel by the MP in early September.

Israel and Iraq do not have diplomatic relations and Iraqis widely consider Israel as an enemy.

Baghdad - The chief of the Iraqi press syndicate was wounded in a blast tha

Baghdad - US forces killed a family of nine, including two children, in a helicopter bombing on their house in the northern Salahaddin province on Friday, witnesses told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Two children and three women were among the victims when the Ali Taema household in the al-Dor district, 170 kilometres north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad was hit.

In a separate incident, unknown gunmen shot dead a man and his wife and injured another four members of the same family including a child in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency reported.

Baghdad - Eleven people were reported killed Wednesday in violence in central and northern Iraq, with the largest number killed in a double car bombing in western Baghdad, police said.

Eight died and 25 were injured when two cars loaded with explosives detonated in front of a hospital in the Iraqi capital's al-Harithya neighbourhood, Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency reported.

Earlier, on the outskirts of Kirkuk, unidentified gunmen fired on a civilian vehicle killing three Iraqis, police said.

Baghdad - Three Iraqis were ki