AP: Can it get any worse in Iraq?

Iraq Sunni, Shiite Groups Threaten Boycott -- AP on Yahoo! News: "Dozens of Sunni Arab and secular Shiite groups threatened to boycott Iraq's new legislature Thursday if complaints about tainted voting are not reviewed by an international body.

A representative for former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi described the Dec. 15 vote as 'fraudulent' and the elected lawmakers 'illegitimate.'

A joint statement issued by 35 political groups that competed in last week's elections said the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, which oversaw the ballot, should be disbanded.

It also said the more than 1,250 complaints about fraud, ballot box stuffing and intimidation should be reviewed by international organizations such as the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization of the Islamic Conference or the Arab League.

There was no one available for comment at the U.N. office in Baghdad, but a world body spokesman in New York rejected a review.

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The trial of Saddam Hussein also adjourned until Jan. 24, after two days of hearings into the deaths of more than 140 people in the town of Dujail in 1982.

Saddam claimed he was "tortured" while in U.S. detention, but Investigative Judge Raid al-Juhi, who prepared the case, told reporters that neither the defendants nor their lawyers had ever complained about beatings. He did not say whether the defendants were examined specifically for signs of abuse.

Violence around the country, including a suicide car bombing and several shootings, left more than a dozen people dead, including six police officers, authorities said.

A U.S. soldier was killed by a bomb explosion Thursday while on patrol in Baghdad, the U.S. military command said. At least 2,159 U.S. service members have died since the war began, according to an Associated Press count."