Meanwhile in Iraq

Iraq minister orders universities closed: Iraq's higher education minister ordered universities closed after gunmen wearing police commando uniforms kidnapped up to 150 people from a government institute on Tuesday. He said he had already asked the interior and defense ministries to protect universities and the ministry's departments.

Iraq: At Least 38 Killed and more than 100 abducted in another day of U.S. occupation: Police found 11 bodies with gunshot wounds in the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday, police said

35 killed in US raid on Ramadi: A doctor at Ramadi's main hospital, said 35 bodies had been brought in and that he believed others had not been retrieved because access was limited by continuing military operations.

U.S. "raid" kills six in Shi'ite area: Sparks protest: Chanting slogans in support of a radical, anti-American, Shi'ite cleric, mourners carried coffins on Tuesday through a Baghdad district where Iraqi officials said U.S. forces killed six people in an overnight raid.

Cleric al-Sadr may hold Iraq's future in his hands : Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American (occupation) cleric President Bush once dismissed as the head of a "band of thugs," has emerged as one of the most powerful forces in Iraq, commanding a large militia and a growing political organization.

Bush against phased Iraq pullout: The US president has renewed his objection to any timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq after discussing the situation there with a bipartisan commission.

Commission improbable: What chance Baker's Iraq Study Group coming up with something original? Don't hold your breath

Premature US Exit From Iraq Will Boost Terrorists, Says Australian PM : Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Tuesday that the premature exit of the United States from Iraq will be seen as a victory for international terrorists and added that "Iraq will become a haven for terrorists".

"Iraq Is Not Winnable": What happens next in the Middle East? SPIEGEL spoke to Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, to find out. A widely respected foreign policy expert, Haass warns that the Middle East could become dangerous for years to come.

America Becomes Hostage to Iraq : The cut-and-run stage hasn't yet arrived. But it's close.

Fourth US serviceman pleads guilty to Iraq civilian death charges : Prosecutors and witnesses in earlier hearings say the soldiers dragged Awad from his home and shot him before covering up the killing to make it look as if he was an Iraqi insurgent planting roadside bombs.