The Christian Science Monitor - The toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime was supposed to usher in a new era for the Middle East, according to the architects of the invasion, one in which Islamic extremism would be rooted out and budding democracies would replace stifling dictatorships.

AFP - Senior Australian officials received a warning from Iraqi authorities in mid-2003 that every company involved in the UN oil-for-food program had been paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime, an official inquiry has heard.

Reuters - In the period before the Iraq war, Saddam Hussein's foreign minister Naji Sabri, was a secret paid source of the CIA, "NBC Nightly News" reported on Monday.

AFP - Iraq marked the third anniversary of the US-led invasion with a fresh spate of killings, a deadlock over the new government and warnings of civil war as Shiites gathered in the south for a major religious ceremony.

Julie Farby - AHN Staff Writer Rome, Italy (AHN)—Libyan leader Moammar Kadhafi says ousted leader Saddam Hussein should still be considered Iraq's legal president and the current government illegitimate as it was elected under an occupation regime. According to the AFP report, Kadhafi...

AFP - Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi said Saddam Hussein should still be considered Iraq's legal president and the current government illegitimate as it was elected under an occupation regime.

AP - Ex-Israeli fighter pilot Gil Fogiel rarely talked about being a prisoner of war in Syria until he sat across a campfire in the middle of the desert with people he long considered his worst enemies — Iraqis, Iranians and Palestinians.

AP - Ex-Israeli fighter pilot Gil Fogiel rarely talked about being a prisoner of war in Syria until he sat across a campfire in the middle of the desert with people he long considered his worst enemies — Iraqis, Iranians and Palestinians.

AP - Key events in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein:

Three years after the start of the Iraq war, the nation remains gripped with insurgency, instability and insecurity -- a country where its citizens never know if they will live for another day. This is the story of a CNN Iraqi producer who chronicles life in Baghdad in the years since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Ride along the streets and hear the voices of ordinary Iraqis, their hopes and their fears, in this compelling piece.

Three years after the start of the Iraq war, the nation remains gripped with insurgency, instability and insecurity -- a country where its citizens never know if they will live for another day. This is the story of a CNN Iraqi producer who chronicles life in Baghdad in the years since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Ride along the streets and hear the voices of ordinary Iraqis, their hopes and their fears, in this compelling piece.

AP - Australia's government faced more criticism Friday after acknowledging its intelligence agencies knew eight years ago that Saddam Hussein was using the U.N. oil-for-food program to take financial kickbacks.

AFP - Prime Minister John Howard has rejected accusations he lied about the government's knowledge of sanctions-busting bribes paid to Saddam Hussein's Iraq by an Australian company.

Reuters - The Bush administration on Thursday released prewar Iraqi government documents confiscated by U.S. forces, including some it said showed Saddam Hussein's regime suspected an al Qaeda presence in the country.

Denise Royal - AHN Staff Writer Baghdad, Iraq (AHN) – Saddam Hussein formally testifies in his trial for the first time Wednesday after earlier acknowledging in court he gave orders that led to the killing of 148 Shiite men in the 1980s. The chief judge quickly closed the session to...

Hector Duarte Jr. - AHN Staff Reporter Baghdad, Iraq (AHN) – Saddam Hussein starts his defense by labeling the court a “comedy.” Hussein and seven others are being tried for crimes against humanity for the deaths of 148 people in the Shia village of Dujail, following a 1982...

AP - The Bush administration Wednesday night released the first declassified documents collected by U.S. intelligence during the Iraq war, showing among other things that Saddam Hussein's regime was monitoring reports that Iraqis and Saudis were heading to Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks to fight U.S. troops.

AP - Saddam Hussein, testifying Wednesday for the first time in his trial, called on Iraqis to stop killing each other and instead fight U.S. troops. The judge reprimanded him for making a rambling, political speech and ordered the TV cameras switched off.

The judge at Saddam Hussein's trial closed the proceeding to the media today after the former Iraqi president called for Iraqis to join together and fight the occupying forces. Hussein, taking the stand at his war crimes trial for the first time, spoke about national unity and urged people not to fight among themselves. Judge Raouf Abdel Rahman and Hussein engaged in a heated discussion about Hussein's comments. "This is a criminal court. We are not interested in politics," Rahman said.

AP - Excerpts from the exchanges in court Wednesday between Saddam Hussein and chief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman, as translated from Arabic by The Associated Press.