Baghdad  - Iraq's Presidential Council on Sunday approved a law that will govern the pullout of non-US troops from Iraq, according to a statement by the council.

The council, comprised of Iraq's president and his two deputies, approved the law that will allow non-US forces to remain in the country beyond December 31, when the old UN mandate permitting the presence of foreign troops in the country expires.

The Iraqi parliament had approved the law on Tuesday.

The law allows non-US troops to stay until July 2009. This covers the approximately 4,000 British troops in the country, as well as smaller forces from countries including Australia, Romania and El Salvador.

Baghdad - A suicide bomber on a bicycle blew himself up on Sunday in the middle of an anti-Israel demonstration in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a police source said.

Baghdad - At least 25 people were killed and 64 wounded Saturday in two separate explosions in Baghdad and near Hilla.

Iraqi police also said they killed a senior al-Qaeda leader who had escaped Friday during a jail breakout in Ramadi.

At least 22 people were killed and 54 injured in a bomb attack on a Baghdad market, al-Iraqiya state television reported, citing an army spokesman.

The blast was in a busy used clothes market in northern district of Kadhimiya. Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency said the bomb had been hidden in a car.

London, Dec 26 : Commanders at US bases across Iraq are preparing for a big change in their ground rules when the Status of Forces Agreement (Sofa) comes into force on January 1.

Under the security deal, American troops must obtain written consent from local judges before starting a raid against a suspected enemy. Until now they had been free to detain anyone they regarded as a security risk.

In Baghdad's more volatile neighbourhoods, such as Ghazaliyeh, the new rules are creating some concern.

Baghdad  - Acts of violence in Baghdad and Mosul claimed the lives of at least five people on Thursday, and left some 27 injured, while Iraqi authorities began preparations to take security responsibility for the capital's heavily fortified Green Zone.

Early on thursday a car bomb parked near the Madayif restaurant in north-western Baghdad exploded, killing at least four people and injuring another 25, according to the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency.

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.