Castel Gandolfo, Italy - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki, was expected to invite Pope Benedict XVI to visit his sectarian strife-torn country during talks scheduled later Friday, Iraq's ambassador to the Vatican said.

The meeting, the first between the two, was set to take place at around noon (1000 GMT) at the pontiff's Castel Gandolfo summer residence in the hills south of Rome.

Baghdad - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to crack down against terrorists Wednesday, a day after a bomb killed 50 and injured 80 in a market in a Shiite neighbourhood of Baghdad.

Amman, Jor

Tehran  - Iraqi Prime Minister Nur

Tehran  - Iraqi Prime

Stockholm - Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt met Friday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a day after a UN- Iraq conference on Iraq's efforts to improve security, human rights and