Insurgents attacked the Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad, injuring 44 US forces and 12 prisoners, the US military said yesterday, while six people were killed elsewhere in Iraq following a period of declining attacks that had raised hopes the insurgency might be weakening.

Iraq's new parliament finally elected a speaker yesterday ending fierce sectarian wrangling two months after historic elections.

MPs elected Sunni Arab MP Hajem al-Hassani as speaker and Shia Hussein al-Sharastani and Kurd Aref Tayfur as his two deputies after the assembly's second session

ended in shambles last Tuesday when the 16 Sunni Arab MPs refused to back the Shias' preferred candidate for speaker.

The vote came even as parliament's Shia, Kurdish and Sunni blocs were still far from agreeing on a new governing coalition amid intense jockeying over the cabinet lineup.

At least 40 militants fired rocket-propelled grenades and set off two car bombs at the infamous prison as darkness fell Saturday night, 1st Lt. Adam Rondeau said. Soldiers and Marines stationed at the detention facility responded, and the resulting clash and gunfight lasted about 40 FROM PAGE 1

minutes. No one escaped.

"This was obviously a very well-organised attack and a very big attack," Rondeau said.

On Sunday, US military officials raised the casualty toll from 20 to 44 US service members, and said some of the injuries were serious.

Officials have said that overall attacks have been declining in Iraq, but they also have noted that insurgents seem to be focusing their efforts on bigger, better organised operations.

It wasn't immediately known if any of the insurgents carrying out the attack were arrested or suffered casualties. Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the area.

Abu Ghraib was at the centre of a prisoner abuse scandal that broke out in 2004 when pictures showing soldiers piling naked inmates in a pyramid and humiliating them sexually became public. The resulting scandal tarnished the military's image worldwide and sparked investigations of detainee abuses.

The United States is holding about 10,500 prisoners in Iraq.

Negotiators also said they hoped to name the country's new interim president expected to be Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani and his two vice presidents during Sunday's session.

Alliance members have agreed to nominate former nuclear scientist Hussain al-Shahristani as one of two deputy speakers and interim Finance Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi as one of the vice presidents. Kurdish judge Dara Nor al-Din is expected to be nominated for the second deputy to the parliament speaker post.

Interim President Ghazi al-Yawer, politicians Adnan Pachachi and Sharif Ali Bin Al-Hussein all Sunni Arabs were vying for the second vice president's post, officials say.

Once in his post, Talabani and the vice presidents will name the new interim prime minister, likely Shia politician Ibrahim al-Jaafari. After that, the legislative body has until mid-August to write a new constitution that will pave the way for new elections and a permanent government.

But US and Iraqi officials acknowledge they have a long way to go. Early Saturday, gunmen opened fire from a car in Baghdad, killing local official Hassib Zamil outside of the Education Ministry offices in the Sadr City neighbourhood.

In the central city of Khan Bani Saad, a car bomb killed five people, including four police officers on patrol. Two police officers and three civilians also were wounded,

provincial police Col. Mudafar al-Jubori said.

A car bomb also injured six Iraqis and set a house on fire in the northern city of Mosul, the US military said. The attack happened Saturday as coalition soldiers, acting on a citizens' tip, were arriving to investigate, the US military said.

It also reported that a US Marine was killed by enemy fire while conducting security operations in Ramadi on Friday.

In a separate statement, the US military praised an edict issued by Sunni clerics that called for Iraqis to join police and army forces, saying it was a sign that people were fed up with the insurgency. But the statement added that enlistees "must be prepared to serve all the people."

In another development Saturday, Interim Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh issued a statement condemning the attack a day earlier against a ninth-century minaret in the central city of Samarra, calling it an "affront to the nation's history and humanity."