Berlin  - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier condemned Thursday two suicide bombings in Iraq which killed at least 87 people in separate attacks.

"I fiercely condemn these underhand attacks," Steinmeier said. "Our deepest sympathy goes to the families of the numerous victims, and we wish the many injured a speedy and complete recovery," the foreign minister added.

Baghdad  - In a further sign of deteriorating relations between Iraq's government and Sunni militias enlisted to fight insurgents, militiamen in Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, left their posts on Thursday, following their leader's resignation.

Militia leader Karim Ismail al-Zubai, better known as "Abu Maruf," submitted his resignation to the government and to the national head of the Awakening Councils, a senior source in the Iraqi government told the German Press Agency dpa on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Baghdad  - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Wednesday hailed "a new era" in the relationship between Iraq and Syria following a Syrian ministerial delegation's visit to Baghdad.

"This visit opens a new era of strategic relations in the political, economic, security, trade, and oil sectors," Talabani said following his meeting with Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Naji al-Otri on Wednesday.

Kirkuk, Iraq - A group of armed men abducted a senior judge from the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, police said.

Fayadh Yassin Badrani, a senior justice at Kirkuk's top court, was surrounded by five gunmen as he left his home in the al-Khadra district of the city, Colonel Mohammed Rashid Ghazi of the Kirkuk police told the German Press Agency dpa.

Ghazi said the police and the army were combing the area looking for the judge and his abductors. It was unclear whether the the abductors had political motives or were simply seeking ransom.

Washington  - The US Senate on Tuesday approved veteran diplomat Christopher Hill as the next ambassador to Iraq, handing President Barack Obama his choice to help manage the planned withdrawal of US forces.

The Senate approved Hill's nomination by a 73-23 vote over objections from some Republicans that the veteran diplomat lacks sufficient experience in the Middle East.

Hill has been serving as assistant secretary of state for East Asia and has led US negotiations over North Korea's nuclear programme in the six-nation talks. He will replace Ryan Crocker.

Mosul, Iraq  - A university professor in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul was murdered near her home, police said, in the latest incident in a string of attacks targeting intellectuals in the city.

Police did not release the woman's name, but said only that she was a professor of law and that she had been fatally shot near her home in the al-Intissar district of western Mosul.

Last month, Ahmed Murad Shehab, a professor in Mosul University's Faculty of Administration and Economics, was fatally shot in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of al-Nur, on Mosul's left bank.