December 12 Events in Iraq

24:00 London. Two emergency responders summonded to the scene where British weapons expert David Kelly was found dead in July 2003 expressed their doubts about the verdict of suicide pronounced in January 2004 at the conclusion of the inquest led by Lord Brian Hutton. "There was not much blood...when you cut an artery, intentionally or accidentally, blood flows like crazy. I think that it is highly unlikely that he died from the wound on his wrist which we saw", explains Vanessa Hunt in an interview in today's Observer. "If I were a family member, I wouldn't have accepted the finding", says Dave Bartlett. The death of David Kelly, the weapons expert, whose story infuenced a BBC journalist to write that Tony Blair had "sexed up" an internal intelligence report on Saddam's WMD arsenal to justify the war on Iraq, seriously embarrassed the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair. Vanessa Hunt and Dave Bartlett were the first rescue workers on the scene in Oxfordshire, west of London.

20:58 Fallujah. US resumes airstrikes.

18:30 Baghdad: Nationwide power outage. A fire broke in a major power station north of Baghdad. Most of the country is without power and a 3-hour blackout occurred in the capital. Premier Allawi addressed the nation by television, saying the outage was not due to sabotage.

19:27 Baghdad. US admits hunger strike by Saddam and 11 others.

17:39 Baghdad. US denies that Saddam Hussein on a hunger strike. "This information is absolutely false", says Col. Barry Johnson.

15:30 Kirkuk. Polling station destroyed. An explosion destroyed the Nahiyat al Sab School in Kirkuk which had been designated as a polling station. Guerrillas also attacked three elections offices in al Howeiya, 55 km west of Kirkuk.

16:32 Anbar. US soldier killed. A US soldier was killed during a "security and stabiilty" operation in al Anbar Province.

16:18 Baghdad: Saddam Hussein begins hunger strike. Saddam Hussein, awaiting trial and imprisoned in an unknown location in Iraq, began a hunger strike today with 11 others.

13:49 Erbil, PDK leader escapes assassination, two wounded. Two people were wounded in Erbil, 350 km north of Baghdad. A booby-trapped car hit a convoy in which Amin Najjar, local PDK leader, was travelling in the Moalemin district. The car contained four anti-tank rockets but only one exploded.

13:18 Haswa. Four corpses found. Four decapitated bodies were found near Haswa, 40 km south of Baghdad. It is thought the victims are Iraqi.

13:03 Hit, seven corpses found. Seven corpses were found today in Hit, in western Iraq. The victims were foreigners, likely to be Sudanese.

12:00 Baquba. US troops arrest 50 people, Iraqi forces arrest 5. House to house raids in Buhriz, south of Baquba, by US troops result in the arrest of 50 people. Another five people were arrested by Iraqi troops in Hib Hib, also near Baquba. The arrested individuals were suspected of launching attacks on US installations.

09:43 Anbar. Carbomb targets US troops. No casualties. A carbomb hit a US military convoy in al Anbar Province on the road between Haditha and Rawah, north of Baghdad.