Survival of Shia parliament member
(Al-Bayan) Member of parliament Sallama Al-Khafaji has survived her fourth assassination attempt in two years. Al-Khafaji is a member of the Iraqi United Alliance, whose son was killed during a previous attempt on her life.
(Al-Bayan is issued four times a week by the Islamic Dawa Party, chaired by Vice-President Ibrahim al-Jafari.)

Telafer seeks security
(Addustour) President Jalal Talabani has received a memorandum issued by three Turkmen members in the National Assembly requesting increased safeguards against terrorist attacks for the people of Telafer. In talks with his deputy Adel Abdul Mahdi and other senior officials, the president agreed that the Telafer civilians needed protection. Multilateral forces are said to be willing to provide the necessary military assistance.
(Addustour is an independent daily published by former journalist Basim al-Sheikh.)

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Muqtada strikes deal with government
(Al-Ittihad) Young Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has said he will cooperate with Jafari's government on condition that his supporters are released from detention. However, he insists that he is not willing to occupy any political post. Al-Sadr wants to end the interference of the former regime's men, Wahabbis, and the Americans. Last year, the cleric led a campaign against Allawi's government and the multilateral forces.
(Al-Ittihad is published daily by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.)

Sistani calls for national congress
(Baghdad) Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has called for a congress of Iraqi powers to combat the deteriorating security situation and to find solutions which will guarantee stability in Iraq. The representative of the Marjiya Habeeb al-Khateeb said on May 25 that the congress would aim to unite Iraqis in the face of extremist political and religious movements which threaten to divide opinion. Sistani is in favour of a free and just society which is representative across the Iraqi political spectrum.
(Baghdad is a daily newspaper issued by the Iraqi National Accord.)

Confusion over Israeli handshake
(Asharq Al-Awsat) Foreign Minister Hooshiar Zeebari has announced that he is willing to be questioned by the National Assembly or any other governmental body about his shaking hands with the Israeli minister of infrastructure. Zeebari says that he did not mean to shake hands with the Israeli minister, but was taken by surprise while talking to the Jordanian minister for water and irrigation. He added that the handshake will not have any political consequences. The Jordanian minister has denied introducing the Israeli minister to Zeebari.
(London-based Asharq al-Awsat, a pro-Saudi independent paper, is issued daily.)

Demonstration in Najaf
(Al-Adala) Hundreds of Iraqis have taken to the streets to protest against terrorist activity in a demonstration held in Najaf. Khalid al-Numani - who is deputy of Najaf advisory council and a high-ranking official at the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, SCIRI - said that the demonstration was a call for Iraqi unity and an end to sectarian conflict.
(Al-Adala is issued daily by the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.)

Saddam trial to begin soon
(al-Mutamar) The Iraqi government has confirmed that the trial of the deposed president Saddam Hussein will begin in the near future. Government spokesman Laith Kubba said that Saddam and his regime men would be tried despite foreign pressure for the trial not to proceed. Kubba added that there is no chance that the trial will be postponed. Some National Assembly members, who preferred to remain nameless, have said that Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari is in a hurry to begin legal proceedings against Saddam and the 55 most-wanted figures.
(Al-Mutamar is issued daily by the Iraqi National Congress.)