Ruth Gledhill - Times Online - WBLG

Teenage female suicide bomber kills Iraqi captain

Reports coming out of Iraq this afternoon suggest that a teenage suicide bomber has killed an Iraqi captain and injured four soldiers south of Baghdad. Apparently the attack happened today as the teenager, a young woman or girl, approached the Iraqi commander in Youssifiyah, one of the areas in Iraq being targeted by Al Qaeda as the US 'surge' in Baghdad proves increasingly successful. The bomb was detonated by remote control, killing Captain Wassem al-Maamouri and injuring four soldiers. American troops are searching for those responsible.

Of course female suicide bombers are not unprecedented.

Kidnapped Archbishop murdered

Paulos Faraj Rahho, the Chaldean Catholic archbishop in Iraq who was kidnapped last month, has been found dead. This was the outcome feared by all, including Persecuted Church, which had urged prayers for the missing Archbishop. Vatican Radio has a detailed report.

Army Chief Sir Richard Dannatt in full

A few weeks ago we carried a story and I did a blog on Sir Richard Dannatt's comments to a Christian conference on leadership that there is life after death. Our reports were taken from a press release approved by the MoD. So anxious to see his comments in full, I ordered the CD from Aiming for Excellence and an excellent Times work experience person, Richard Oxley, kindly transcribed it for me. If you have a few minutes to spare, read for yourself exactly what our Army chief has to say on leadership. From his definition of God to his story of the Army in Northern Ireland, I found it profoundly moving. I rest in awe of the rigour with which this man's great mind is organised, and of the compassion with which he does his job. There are or two church leaders out there who could benefit from Sir Richard Dannatt's lessons on leadership.

Troops in Iraq need more support, says Vicar of Baghdad

You might recognise John Major in the middle of this pic. This was the dinner at Middle Temple last night where Canon Andrew White, who I interviewed earlier this week, was awarded the Pursuer of Peace prize by the Woolf Institute. Canon White talked to me both about the fatwa against violence he is helping negotiate between the two leading Sunni and Shia. Reflecting some of what RC bishop Tom Burns says in a pastoral letter for Remembrance Sunday, he also spoke passionately about the need for more support for British troops in Iraq. We gave extensive coverage in The Times to Dr Denis MacEoin's carefully researched and authoritative report into the 'hijacking of British Islam'. See below for details of another new research project by the Woolf Institute that will explore some similar ground when published in the New Year.

Saddam hanged - the killing goes on

A few regulars here have been asking for a blog on the deceased villain, so here it is. But first, a little story of our times. Saddam Hussein attained a curious new dignity in the manner of his dying. Inadvertently, the old defeated dictator has also been entertaining journalists throughout "Fleet Street" as a result of the way the death was reported by the Telegraph's Toby Harnden. Media Guardian picked it up, but also various "insiders" have been emailing me the link to his blog, in which Harnden confesses admirably that "writing about Saddam's hanging before it happened was not my finest hour." On his report, subsequently re-written, the old headline remains, describing Saddam as "hooded" when of course the whole world now knows there was no hood. Harnden has posted the original story, written as requested by his editors in the future tense, in the comment section himself. (Update: The Telegraph has taken the blog down but the Guardian, proving once more that there is a God, has posted a new story about it including a link to a copy of the original with many of the best comments.)

O crazy town of Bethlehem

The leaders of four main British churches, the CofE, Roman Catholics, Free Churches and the Armenians flew out to Israel today for their visit to Bethlehem, welcomed by their counterparts over there. But the mask of "peace and good will" this well-intentioned visit presents to the world disguises a turbulent nest of suspicion, anger and fear - on all sides. Archbishop Rowan Williams is viewed with suspicion because of his vote supporting the General Synod boycott of Caterpillar. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor is a President of the Council of Christians and Jews, which criticised the Synod action, but some say that privately he has backed Dr Williams. One of the fears in Israel is that this visit will be used to explore once again the possibility of punitive action against Israel.