Draft law could reinstate Saddam backers

Iraq's Shiite-dominated government has declared a major concession to Saddam's Sunni Muslim backers.

Iraq's Shiite-dominated government has declared a major concession to Saddam's Sunni Muslim backers that could see thousands of purged Baath Party members reinstated in their jobs.

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The US military announced the deaths of five more American troops, two in a helicopter crash north of Baghdad and three in fighting west of the capital.

The deaths raised to 18 the number of US forces killed in the first six days of November.

The High Tribunal's verdict against Saddam and seven co-defendants was praised in by the Bush administration as a sign of growing political and judicial maturity in Iraq, where American forces are struggling in the 43rd month of the war to crush insurgent and militia violence and to leave behind a democratic government.

Tuesday's US midterm elections have been seen by many as a referendum on President George W Bush's conduct of the war and the Saddam verdict and the opening to Sunnis were seen as a welcome break from the focus on rampaging sectarian murders and the fast-rising American death toll.

There were reports in both Washington and Baghdad, however, that US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad was preparing to leave the post.