Senior U.S. legislators of both political parties say critical questions remain unanswered concerning America's strategy in Iraq, despite days of testimony before Congress by the top U.S. military commander in Iraq as well as the U.S. ambassador to Baghdad.

The Bush administration says it aims to hand over a more stable and secure Iraq to the next U.S. president, but does not seek to "bind" the incoming administration to a set course in the country. VOA's Michael Bowman reports from Washington, where a senior administration official spoke at length on U.S. efforts in Iraq Thursday.

Five people were killed near shelter used as a police recruiting center in northeast Baghdad in a roadside bomb explosion on Thursday.

Tehran is ready to propose new measures to settle the situation in Iraq at an upcoming international conference on Iraq due 2-3 November, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Wednesday.

A suicide bomber riding a bicycle blew himself up at a police headquarters in Iraq's restive city of Baquba, killing at least 25 people, mostly policemen, officials say.

The US military said six Iraqi civilians were among 11 people killed in an air strike by an attack helicopter north of Baghdad.

South Korea says it will continue to contribute non-combat military personnel to U.S-led stabilization efforts in Iraq. As VOA Seoul Correspondent Kurt Achin reports, the deployment is half a world away, but has everything to do with South Korea's neighbor to the north.

An audio recording purportedly from al-Qaida terrorist network leader Osama bin Laden calls on insurgents in Iraq to unite.

Iraqi officials say a mortar attack on a joint U.S.-Iraqi military base south of Baghdad has killed five civilians. The officials say insurgents fired several mortars Monday at the base in the mainly Shi'ite city of Diwaniyah. Police say five civilians outside the base were killed in the attack, including two children. About 20 people were wounded.

A minibus laden with explosives slammed into the house of a local police chief on Tuesday, while minutes later, a Toyota Land Cruiser blew up outside the home of a Sunni official in a northern Iraqi city, police said.

The U.S. military in Iraq says about 25 militants were killed and two houses destroyed in a U.S. air strike near Baquba, north of Baghdad Friday.

President Bush says pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq before the government there can take over its own security would embolden neighboring Iran. Iran's foreign minister says his country would step in to ensure regional stability, once foreign forces leave Iraq.