Sydney  - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is expected to visit Australia this week, officials in Canberra said Sunday.

Al-Maliki is due on Wednesday and expected to leave on Sunday.

"The success of Iraq's recent provincial elections in January 2009 is evidence of growing security and stability in the country," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said in a statement. "Australia is strongly supportive of measures Iraq is taking to strengthen democracy and welcomes the recent free and fair elections, giving Iraqi citizens a voice in the future of their country."

Baghdad  - The Iraqi parliament Thursday Thursday passed a 2009 budget of 58.6 billion dollars, after slashing around four billion dollars off government spending plans.

As global oil prices fell from 150 dollars per barrel in July to little more than 43 dollars on Wednesday, there were increasing concerns that huge cuts might be needed.

Oil exports account for almost 95 per cent of Iraq's revenue. This month's exports of crude oil reached an average of one million and 804 barrels per day.

Baghdad - Iraqi security forces on Thursday said they had killed a top military commander in the Iraqi branch of the al-Qaeda network.

General Tariq al-Assil, police chief for Iraq's western al-Anbar province, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that his forces had killed Hamza Ubid Idris, also known as Abu al-Ansar, on Wednesday night.

Al-Assil said that Idris was responsible for directing attacks in western Iraq by the al-Qaeda in Iraq organisation.

Berlin - The President of the Kurdish Autonomous Region of Iraq, Massoud Barzani, met Wednesday with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier during a visit to Berlin.

The discussion focused on bilateral relations between the two regions.

A spokesman for the foreign ministry, Jens Ploetner, said they spoke in particular about strengthening economic ties between Germany and the Kurdish region, as well as the significant "potential for cultural cooperation."

Baghdad- Al-Qaeda militants in Iraq on Wednesday shot and killed a tribal Sheikh, his wife and their son near their home in the northern city of Tikrit, a police source said.

The source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa that the militants apparently wanted to take revenge on Sheikh Ziab Ahmed Ziara.

The sheikh was leader of al-Ahbab tribe in Balad district and had a strong connection with the Awakening Councils, a tribal group who collaborated with the US forces to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq. Al-Qaeda militants had killed three members of the Sheikh's family.

Baghdad - As political jockeying among Sunni parties continues, the Iraqi parliament remains without a speaker and unable to conduct its business.

Abd al-Karim al-Samrai, a lawmaker with the Iraqi National Accord on Tuesday announced that he had filed a lawsuit with the Iraqi Federal Court to force a decision on the issue on procedural grounds.