Fighting flared in Iraq's holy city of Najaf today for the first time since a Shia militia agreed a truce with US-led forces last week, and Turkey said seven Turks were being held hostage by guerrillas.
In Washington, officials said US Defence Secretary, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, might widen an investigation into Iraqi prisoner abuse to include top officers, as an opinion poll showed Iraq violence was hitting President George W. Bush's re-election chances.
But on the political front in Iraq, interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said leaders had resolved a dispute over Kurdish autonomy that had threatened to split his fledgling government.
Five people were killed in the Najaf fighting that involved Iraqi police and militiamen belonging to Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who launched an anti-US revolt in April, hospital sources said. Three policemen were among the dead.
Gunfire echoed through the streets as police sped past in pick-up trucks.
Iraqi police returned to Najaf's streets under the June 4th truce deal, which US forces hoped would mark the end of Sadr's uprising. At its peak, the revolt engulfed cities across the mainly Shia south and hundreds of people were killed.
A Turkish Foreign Ministry official said guerrillas were holding seven Turks hostage in Iraq and demanding Turkish companies leave the country.
Dubai-based Al Arabiya television aired a video tape showing what it said were four of the seven Turkish hostages.
Mr Allawi said he had sorted out the autonomy dispute in talks with Kurdish leaders, but gave no details.
"This issue has been resolved," he told reporters.
Kurdish leaders had warned they would quit the government unless the UN Security Council backed Kurdish autonomy in a resolution unanimously adopted on Tuesday endorsing Mr Allawi's administration and US-led forces to help with security.
The resolution refers to the government's commitment to a federal Iraq, but does not mention a transitional law passed in March that guarantees Kurdish self-rule in the north.