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WITNESSES have reportedly told an Australian journalist how new Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi shot and killed up to six prisoners just days before his government took control of the country. A newspaper report today said the two witnesses saw Dr Allawi pull a pistol and execute suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station. Dr Allawi's office has denied the claims and branded them "outrageous". The witnesses said the handcuffed and blindfolded prisoners were lined up against a wall in a courtyard next to the maximum-security cell block in which they were held at the Al-Amariyah security centre. They say...

<p>American forces in Iraq have captured a former spymaster believed to know about Iraqi espionage in the United States. In Baghdad, U.S. officials warned the self-proclaimed "mayor" not to arm his followers and conferred Thursday with civic leaders on how to restore order.</p>

AS THE hunt for Saddam Hussein’s fallen lieutenants continued, officials from the United States last night claimed a further four scalps from Iraq’s feared intelligence hierarchy. Most senior to fall into the hands of coalition forces was Muzahim Sa’b Hassan al-Tikriti, who headed Iraq’s air defences under Saddam. He was number ten on the US list of the top 55 most wanted officials from Saddam’s regime currently being hunted by both US and UK special forces, including SAS troops. "They’re collapsing like a house of cards," said Lieutenant Colonel Tom Kurasiewicz, a spokesman for the Pentagon. Another official said US...

WASHINGTON (AP) - American forces in Iraq captured four top officials of Saddam Hussein's former government Wednesday, including the air defense force commander and the former head of military intelligence. The highest-ranking official in the group is Muzahim Sa'b Hassan al-Tikriti, who headed Iraq's air defenses under Saddam. He was No. 10 on the U.S. list of the top 55 most wanted officials from Saddam's regime. Gen. Zuhayr Talib Abd al-Sattar al-Naqib, the former head of the Directorate of Military Intelligence, surrendered to U.S. troops Wednesday, a senior Pentagon official said. The directorate monitored the loyalty of Iraq's regular army,...