WhatsApp Has 'More Users Than Twitter'

Smartphone messaging app WhatsApp has more users than Twitter, claims its boss.

Jan Koum says the company processes 8bn inbound and 12bn outbound messages every day.

He did not reveal exactly how many active users the service has, but Twitter officially quotes 200 million per month.

Speaking at the D: Dive Into Mobile conference in New York, Mr Koum said he had no plans yet to cash in on its sizable user base through traditional means.

"We do have a manifesto opposing advertising," said the WhatsApp CEO. "We're proud of that. Who likes advertising?

"We're so bombarded with ads so much in our daily lives and we felt that smartphones aren't the place for that ... You don't want to be interrupted by ads when you're chatting with your loved ones."

The app, which allows smartphone users to send free texts, pictures and videos, currently charges 69p per year in the UK and 99 cents in the US.

However, Mr Koum did not rule out extracting more money from the service in the future.

"We're looking forward to a world with billions of phones and once that happens it's going to be extremely easy to monetise," he said.

WhatsApp's meteoric success over the last four years has stoked speculation that Google or Facebook could make a big money move to snap up the company.

However, the firm has denied talking to either of the internet giants.

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Boston Bombs: First Pictures Of Devices

US authorities have released the first pictures of the explosive devices used in the twin blasts which hit the Boston Marathon on Monday.

The images show twisted pieces of a metal container, wires, a battery and a small circuit board which exploded close to the finish line at the race.

In another, a piece of charred wire can be seen attached to a small box and a twisted metal lid with bolts.

The FBI said on Tuesday that a pressure cooker may have been used to build the bombs, with nails, ball bearings and other metal packed around the explosive.

The device may also have been hidden inside rucksacks placed on the ground near the finish line.

Richard DesLauriers, FBI agent in charge said the investigation to find those responsible would be worldwide.

He vowed: "We will go to the ends of the Earth to identify the subject or subjects who are responsible for this despicable crime."

More than 1,000 officers are working on the investigation which agents have said in the largest the Boston bureau has ever worked on. 

Pressure cooker bombs have been used in attacks in Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Pakistan, according to a July 2010 FBI report.

But the techniques of making them is understood to be known to domestic US extremists.

Officials said that there was no indication that al Qaeda or other foreign extremist organisations were behind the attack, but they added the investigation was still at an early stage.

It is not yet known what was used to set off the devices.

The damage caused by one of the blasts in Boston

Special agent DesLauriers said experts would reconstruct the devices at the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.

The FBI also appealed for anyone who was in the area of the marathon or Boston airport in the last few days to send in any pictures they may have taken.

Investigators are already understood to be examining 6,000 movies-worth of CCTV footage from cameras in the area.

Websites and newspapers were already featuring images which they claimed showed people suspected of carrying out the attacks or the devices.

The FBI said it was looking at one sent to a local TV station which appeared to show a bag next to a mailbox in the area where one of the bombs went off.

Jason Pack, FBI spokesman in Boston, said: "We're taking a look at hundreds of photos and that's one of them." 

Three people were killed and more than 170 others injured after the two explosions around four hours into the famous marathon.

Two of those killed were Krystle Campbell, 29, and eight-year-old Martin Richard.

The third is understood to be a Chinese graduate student who has been named locally and in China, but not named officially.

Nine children were among the injured, which were aged between two and 71.

Doctors have revealed the extent of the injuries suffered by those caught in the blasts, including details of a nine-year-old girl who lost her leg and a 10-year-old boy who suffered deep shrapnel wounds.

George Velmahos, of Massachusetts General Hospital, said: "These bombs contained small metallic fragments more consistent with pellets and other small pieces of metal, but also spiked points that resembled nails without heads."

A total of 13 people have had to have limbs amputated and others are at risk of losing legs following the blasts. Seventeen remain in a critical condition.

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Free Sandwiches May Have Contained Rat Poison

Twenty employees of a company in Germany have been hospitalised in case sandwiches they were given as a gift turn out to have been poisoned.

The suspicious sandwiches were left on the doorstep of a company near the northwestern town of Vechta on Tuesday with a note saying they were a present.

Police say 25 employees of the company in Steinfeld, Lower Saxony, ate the sandwiches before someone noticed a strange substance on them.

The emergency services were called and a fleet of ambulances took those who had eaten the sandwiches for urgent treatment.

The company and the identity of those who ate them has not been revealed.

Local reports in Germany say the substance is suspected to be rat poison.

Police said those placed in hospital were taken in as a precaution. They are in intensive care, according to local media. 

Area force spokesman Klaus Koesterke said Wednesday that so far none of those hospitalised has shown symptoms of poisoning.

But officials said they are not excluding the possibility of a slow-acting poison.

Uneaten samples of the sandwiches have been sent to a Berlin laboratory for tests.

Officers have also appealed for anyone else who may have eaten the sandwiches to come forward.

It has also not been revealed why the employees thought the rolls were safe to eat.

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Boston Bombs: Victim's Mother 'Heartbroken'

The mother of one of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings has paid an emotional tribute to her daughter.

Krystle Campbell, 29, was the second of the three people killed in the blasts on Monday to be identified.

She had gone with her best friend to take a picture of the friend's boyfriend crossing the finish line on Monday afternoon when the bombs went off.

An image of one of the mangled pressure cooker bombs

Mother Patty Campbell said: "She was a wonderful person and everyone who knew her loved her.

"She was always smiling and was such a hard-worker in everything she did. This just doesn't make any sense."

It has since emerged that Krystle Campbell's parents were originally told their daughter had been badly injured but would survive.

The New York Daily News reported that doctors had confused Krystle with her friend Karen Rand, who was by chance carrying Krystle's ID. Karen Rand had surgery to a badly injured leg.

William Campbell Jr, 56, said: "We had the doctors come out and tell us everything they did (on the survivor) - and it wasn't our daughter."

Krystle Campbell was with a friend at the race

Boston University said the third victim was a graduate student who was watching the race with friends at the finish line, close to the university.

The Chinese consulate said the victim was an exchange student, but has not identified them.

The first victim to be identified, eight-year-old Martin Richard, was waiting with his family to give his father a hug at the finish line when he was killed.

His sister Jane lost a leg and his mother Denise, 43, is understood to have undergone surgery for a serious head injury after they were also caught in the blast.

President Obama will visit Boston on Thursday and will attend an interfaith service in memory of those killed.

Eight-year-old Martin Richard was killed in one of the blasts

On Tuesday, he branded the bombings an act of terrorism, but said investigators did not know whether they were carried out by a solo bomber or a group.

The FBI also vowed to "go to the ends of the Earth" to find out who carried out the attacks.

More than 24 hours since the twin blasts, the FBI has few breakthroughs to report and no apparent motive.

Forensic investigators work at the scene of one of the bomb blasts

Special agent Rick DesLauriers said that specialists in Virginia will "reconstruct the device".

Doctors have revealed the extent of the injuries suffered by those caught in the blasts, including details of a nine-year-old girl who had lost her leg and a 10-year-old boy who suffered deep shrapnel wounds.

Several people have had to have limbs amputated and others are at risk of losing legs following the blasts that ripped through crowds during the city's marathon.

People attend a candlelight vigil for the victims of the attacks

The explosive devices involved pressure cooker bombs hidden inside duffel bags packed with nails, shards of metal and ball bearings, placed on the ground around 100m apart along the finishing stretch of the Boston Marathon route.

Seventeen people remain in a critical condition after the blasts.

Security has been stepped up in Washington and New York, and Boston remains on high alert, although there have been no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack.

Police are said to have questioned a 20-year-old Saudi Arabian man who is being treated for injuries at a hospital in Boston.

Officers have searched his apartment in Revere, according to his flatmate.

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Boston Marathon Explosions: Hunt For Clues

By Tim Marshall, Sky News Foreign Editor

Within minutes of the explosions in Boston, the procedures required for a successful investigation will have been put in place.

The first responders treated the injured and bystanders pulled away wreckage from those trapped.

But following in quickly behind them will have been the men and women who were already thinking ahead.

The scene was quickly sealed off. Every piece of debris will need to be collected and analysed.

Somewhere among the thousands of shards of metal and glass there will be answers to the first questions: What sort of bombs were they? Did they have timers? Were they detonated by remote control?

The two unexploded devices said to be found at the scene will be a treasure trove for investigators and may even still have fingerprints on them.

More than a hundred people were injured in the blast

Parallel to this will be the investigation into the footage of the event - professional and amateur video, as well as CCTV.

The latter will be scrutinised to see if anyone can be seen acting suspiciously at any point - in the hours, minutes and seconds leading up to the explosions.

Experts will be painstakingly searching through social media to see if there is anything that their trained eye can spot. That is a very labour intensive procedure.

The FBI will also look at the records of mobile phone companies to isolate all the calls made in the area.

They will want to see if the same phone made two calls in quick succession in the few seconds before the two explosions.

They will also cross refer the phone records with any calls made by anyone they bring in for questioning.

Unclaimed runners' bags tell a tragic tale

This is all basic modern intelligence work, but most of it will not answer another important question - what was the motive?

Because America has suffered so many terrorist attacks of a different nature, the investigators will have to consider several possibilities.

The US has experienced attacks inspired by foreign Islamist jihadist philosophy, but it also has a long history of home-grown terrorism.

In recent decades it has seen the sporadic attacks of the Weathermen in the 1970s, bombings of abortion clinics beginning in the 1980s and the Oklahoma bombing in the 1990s which killed 168 people.

Behind the Oklahoma attack was the idea that "Big Government" had to be taken on by violent means.

The idea of "The State" is deeply unpopular in parts of the US especially among the survivalist militias.

Timothy McVeigh, who was convicted for Oklahoma, came from that mindset and regarded himself as a true patriot.

It may be a coincidence that the Boston bombing came on Patriots Day, the annual event commemorating the first major battle of the Revolutionary War.

But the date will have been noted by the authorities as one potential avenue to explore. 

Until things become clearer there are many such potentials, and although the men and women in the FBI will have their gut feelings about motive, they will have to keep an open mind.

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Boston Marathon Explosions: Three Dead

An eight-year-old boy has been named by US media as one of three people killed when two bombs ripped through crowds during the Boston Marathon.

The Boston Globe newspaper identified the youngster as Martin Richard, who lives in the city.

He was reportedly waiting to give his father, who was running in the race, a hug at the finish line when the blasts happened.

The boy's sister lost a leg in the attack and his mother was also seriously injured, according to reports.

A candle was left on the steps of the family home in the Dorchester district and the word "peace" was scrawled in chalk on the sidewalk.

The US is on alert for further attacks as the FBI leads a terror investigation into the bombings, which left more than 140 people injured - many seriously - in the heart of Boston.

Bystanders rushed to the aid of victims

Spectators' cheers turned to screams as the bombs went off within seconds of each other and about 100m (330ft) apart on the same street, blowing out windows and sending smoke and debris into the air.

Emergency workers tore down fencing and carried away seriously injured men and women amid scenes of panic and confusion.

Of the 144 reported injured, 17 are in a critical condition.

Harrowing stories have emerged after doctors confirmed "several amputations" were performed on survivors. Others had limbs torn of by blast forces.

Liz Norden, a mother of five, told the Boston Globe how two of her sons had each lost a leg in the blast.

US media reported ball bearings were packed into the bombs

Both had gone to Boylston Street to see a friend finish the race.

"Ma I'm hurt real bad," Ms Norden quoted one of her sons as telling her in a phone call from the ambulance.

There have been no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack, the most serious in the US since the 9/11 World Trade Centre atrocity. Al Qaeda-linked groups and militant white extremists have attacked targets in America in the past.

The Pakistani Taliban, who have previously threatened attacks in the US, have denied any involvement.

Barack Obama vowed to find and punish those responsible, as a senior White House official said the attacks were being treated as an act of terrorism.

Windows in nearby buildings shattered into the streets

Mr Obama said officials "still do not know who did this or why".

But he vowed: "We will find out who did this. We'll find out why they did this. Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups, will feel the full weight of justice."

A European security official with knowledge of the US investigation said initial evidence suggests suicide bombers were not involved.

The marathon is held every year on Patriots' Day, a Massachusetts state holiday which commemorates the first battles of the American Revolution in 1775.

The explosions happened four hours into the race and about two hours after the men's winner had crossed the line, as amateur runners were reaching the finish.

One witness is comforted near a triage tent in the aftermath

More than 17,000 competitors had completed the race by the time the blasts struck.

TV helicopter footage showed blood on the ground and the desperate efforts of rescuers in the popular shopping and tourist area known as the Back Bay.

A woman near the second bomb, Brighid Wall, 35, said people had frozen, unsure of what to do.

Her husband threw their children to the ground, lay on top of them and another man lay on top of them and said: "Don't get up, don't get up."

She said she saw six to eight people bleeding profusely, including one man who was kneeling, dazed and bleeding from his head. Another person was on the ground covered in blood and not moving.

"My ears are zinging", she said. "Their ears are zinging. It was so forceful. It knocked us to the ground."

Bill Iffrig, a runner who was filmed falling to the ground as the first blast went off, said "the shockwave must have hit me. My legs felt like noodles". He was able to walk away and speak to reporters at the scene.

Roupen Bastajian, 35, a state police officer from Rhode Island, had just finished the race when he heard the blasts.

"There were people all over the floor," he said. "We started grabbing tourniquets and started tying legs.

"A lot of people amputated ... At least 25 to 30 people have at least one leg missing, or an ankle missing, or two legs missing."

One British runner, Abi Griffiths, 34, from London, told Sky News the scene was in a "state of chaos".

She said: "Police were everywhere, we were being evacuated out of the area and it was really eerie."

A senior US intelligence official said another two unexploded bombs were found and disarmed near the end of the 26.2mile (42km) route.

A police officer involved in the search in the suburb of Revere

No one has been arrested, although officers searched an apartment in the Boston suburb of Revere as part of the investigation.

A no-fly zone was also put in place over the city as security was tightened and flights bound for Boston's Logan International Airport were briefly held up at other airports.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis said the authorities had received "no specific intelligence that anything was going to happen".

At Massachusetts General Hospital, Alisdair Conn, chief of emergency services, said: "This is something I've never seen in my 25 years here ... this amount of carnage in the civilian population. This is what we expect from war."

Police and doctors quoted by US media said ball bearings had been packed into the injuries, causing horrific injuries.

A bomb squad officer inspects a bag along the route

British police are now reviewing security plans for this Sunday's London Marathon - the next major international marathon.

The London race's chief executive, Nick Bitel, said it was "a very sad day for athletics and for our friends in marathon running".

More than 25,000 people were registered as taking part in the race, 374 of whom were British. There were also 108 Irish athletes.

The British Foreign Office has said it is not aware of any British nationals who have been injured but that it will continue to monitor the situation.

There were reports of a third blast at the JFK library a few miles away but that was later confirmed as a fire that was believed to be unrelated to the blasts.

A police officer stands guard on the morning after Monday's attack

Prime Minister David Cameron wrote on Twitter: "The scenes from Boston are shocking and horrific - my thoughts are with all those who have been affected."

Boston officials said it would "not be business as usual" in the city, with random checks of backpacks and bags on public transport. Security has also been stepped up in Washington and New York.

Russian sports officials have also announced increased security planning for the Sochi 2014 Winter Games in the wake of the explosions.

:: The British Foreign Office said friends and relatives concerned about British nationals in Boston can call the Boston Mayor's Office emergency hotline on 00 1 617 635 4500.

:: In the US, concerned relatives can call 617 635 4500, and anybody with information about the blasts should call 1 800 494 tips.

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US Helicopter Crashes Near North Korea Border

Who Is Kim Jong-Un?

Updated: 9:50am UK, Friday 08 March 2013

Kim Jong-Un is the world's youngest head of state. But very little is known about the supreme leader of North Korea, the most secretive nation on Earth.

Believed to have been born in Pyongyang around 1983, he was named North Korea's "great successor" following the death of his father, Kim Jong-Il, in December 2011.

The younger Kim is the leader of the ruling communist Workers' Party of Korea. He also holds the rank of Wonsu - the highest rank in the Korean military.

Reports in some Japanese newspapers claim he was educated in Switzerland at an English-language international school near Bern from the age of 10 to 17 where - according to a classmate - he developed a keen interest in basketball.

In 2012 he was voted the sexiest man alive in a spoof article by satirist website The Onion. China's Communist Party newspaper later ran a glowing report of the article, unaware it was a parody.

Quoting from the spoof report, The People's Daily wrote: "With his devastatingly handsome, round face, his boyish charm and his strong, sturdy frame, this Pyongyang-bred heart-throb is every woman's dream come true."

In 2012 he made several public appearances with a mystery lady, initially believed to be Hyon Song-Wol, a North Korean singer famous for the smash hit A Girl In The Saddle Of A Steed, often mis-translated as Excellent Horse-Like Lady.

But North Korean media later identified the woman as Ri Sol-Ju and claimed she was Mr Kim's wife. Unconfirmed reports have suggested the couple were married in 2009 and that she gave birth to a child in 2010.

But less is known about her than her husband. Conflicting reports have suggested she was born between 1985 and 1989 and that some of her family are involved in North Korean politics.

Her mother reportedly works in the gynaecology unit at a local hospital and her father as a university professor.

Mr Kim's interest in basketball is understood to have led to American NBA star Dennis Rodman paying the supreme leader a surprise visit in March 2013.

"He wants Obama to do one thing: Call him," Rodman later said. "He said, 'If you can, Dennis - I don't want (to) do war. I don't want to do war.' He said that to me."

A United Nations report on human rights in North Korea has urged for an inquiry to document the accountability of Mr Kim and the North Korean government for alleged crimes against humanity.

The UN has claimed that out of the total population of 25 million in the country, "16 million people continue to suffer varying degrees of chronic food insecurity and high malnutrition".

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Large Earthquake Felt Across The Middle East

A powerful earthquake has struck near the border of Iran and Pakistan, with at least 45 people reported to have been killed.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.8 - strong enough to cause damage to buildings.

Tremors were felt across the Middle East and as far away as the Indian capital New Delhi.

Iran's state-run Press TV said at least 40 people were killed, although a spokesman for the Iranian crisis centre told the ISNA news agency there had been no fatalities.

However, a government official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said he expected hundreds of deaths in what he described as "the biggest earthquake in Iran in 40 years".

Meanwhile, a hospital spokesman in Pakistan said at least five people had been killed there, although national broadcaster Radio Pakistan put the death toll at 12.

The earthquake happened around 73 miles beneath the surface in an area prone to tectonic activity.

Dubai's Jumeirah Lake Towers was evacuated. Pic: Natalie Daghestani

The remote, mountainous region is around 115 miles southeast of Zahedan, a city with a population of around 550,000.

Iran's Red Crescent Society, which has sent rescue teams to the area, said it was facing a "complicated emergency situation", with villages scattered over desolate hills and valleys.

Strong tremors were felt across the Gulf, where high-rise buildings swayed and officials ordered evacuations.

The National newspaper said buildings were cleared in Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which is home to the world's tallest tower, the 828m Burj Khalifa.

The earthquake was also felt in New Delhi, where witnesses said tall buildings shook, sending people running into the streets.

Local TV channel NDTV said lights and equipment in its south Delhi studio shook for nearly a minute.

Dr Brian Baptie, head of earthquake seismology at the British Geological Survey, said: "This earthquake occurred in the great belt of earthquakes that stretches through the Middle East into central Asia that results from the collision of the northwards-moving Arabian and Indian tectonic plates with Eurasian tectonic plate to the north.

"Given the depth, the earthquake was probably a result of normal faulting within the Arabian plate as it is subducted under the Eurasian plate along the Makran coast of Iran and Pakistan."

The tremors come a week after a deadly 6.1 magnitude earthquake was recorded 60 miles southeast of Bushehr, the site of Iran's nuclear reactor.

On Boxing Day 2003, more than 26,000 people were killed when a 6.6 magnitude quake struck Bam.

More follows...

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Venezuela: Nicolas Maduro Elected President

Venezuelan electoral officials say voters have chosen Hugo Chavez's hand-picked successor Nicolas Maduro as their new president in a tightly-fought contest.

His challenger, Henrique Capriles, declared that he would not accept the results and called for a full recount.

Mr Maduro campaigned on a promise to carry on the late president's self-styled socialist revolution, while his rival claimed the late president's regime has put Venezuela on the road to ruin.

Officials say Mr Maduro beat two-time challenger Mr Capriles by just 300,000 votes. The margin was 50.8% to 49.1%.

Addressing a crowd from the presidential palace, Mr Maduro called his victory further proof that Mr Chavez "continues to be invincible, that he continues to win battles".

He said that Mr Capriles had called him before the results were announced to suggest a "pact" but he had refused.

At the opposition candidate's headquarters, people hung their heads quietly as the results were announced.

Henrique Capriles demands a recount

Mr Capriles emerged later, saying his campaign's tally of votes came up with "a result that is different from the results announced today".

"It is the government that has been defeated. The biggest loser today is you. The people don't love you," he said directly addressing Mr Maduro.

Turnout was 78%, down from just over 80% in the October election that Mr Chavez won by a margin of almost 11 points.

National Electoral Council president Tibisay Lucena told a news conference: "These are the irreversible results that the people have decided."

In a hint of discontent within Chavista ranks, National Assembly president Diosdado Cabello, who many consider Mr Maduro's main rival, expressed dismay at the tight outcome.

He tweeted: "The results oblige us to make a profound self-criticism. It's contradictory that the poor sectors of the population vote for their longtime exploiters."

Maduro supporters celebrate his victory

Mr Maduro, a foreign minister to Mr Chavez, rode a wave of grief for the late leader, who ruled Venezuela for 14 years with a socialist revolution that made him popular among the poor while alienating others critical of the weak economy.

Mr Maduro has vowed to continue the oil-funded policies that cut poverty by almost half to 29% through popular health, education and food programmes.

But he also inherits a litany of problems left behind by his mentor: South America's highest murder rate, with 16,000 people killed last year, chronic food shortages, high inflation and recurring power cuts.

Opinion polls had given Mr Maduro leads of 10 to 20 points during the campaign, but Mr Capriles energised the opposition and closed the gap.

"This is a very important victory for the future of the country. This is the legacy of our comandante, who is no longer here. But he left us Maduro and he will defend his project," said one Maduro supporter, Rafael Perez Camarero.

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Iraq Bombings: Up To 31 Killed In 18 Blasts

Terrorists set off 18 bombs around Iraq, killing up to 31 and injuring hundreds, as they attempted to derail elections.

The blasts came during morning rush hour on Monday amid tightened security ahead of the country's first polls since the US troop withdrawal in December 2011.

Reports varied as to the number killed with some putting the figure at 19. Almost 200 people were said to have been injured.

Analysts said the blasts raised questions about the credibility of the April 20 vote, which is seen as a key test of Iraq's stability and its security forces' capabilities.

A total of 14 election hopefuls have already been murdered in other pre-election violence.

Officials said 18 car bombs exploded on Monday morning. Baghdad was hit along with the northern cities of Kirkuk, Tuz Khurmatu and Tikrit, the central city of Samarra, and Hilla and Nasiriyah, south of Baghdad.

Three roadside bombs also hit Baquba, near Khalis, north of the capital.

The bombings struck across Iraq on Monday

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Sunni militants linked to al Qaeda, are known to frequently attack both government targets and civilians in a bid to destabilise the country.

Some have reportedly sought to intimidate candidates and election officials ahead of polls.

The deadliest attacks were in Baghdad, where six car bombs struck in five neighbourhoods across the capital despite tougher checkpoint searches and heightened security.

Eight people were killed and 48 wounded in the capital, security and medical officials said.

In Tuz Khurmatu, which lies 175 kilometres (110 miles) north of Baghdad, six people were killed and 60 wounded by three near-simultaneous car bombs, according to a provincial council member and a doctor.

And in Kirkuk, four people were killed and 19 wounded by another trio of car bombs, provincial health chief Sadiq Omar Rasul said.

Explosions elsewhere in Iraq killed one person and wounded 64 people.

Kirkuk and Tuz Khurmatu lie at the centre of a tract of disputed territory that stretches from Iraq's eastern border with Iran to its western frontier with Syria.

The swathe of land is claimed by both the mostly-Arab government in Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan region in the north of Iraq.

The dispute is often cited by officials and diplomats as the biggest long-term threat to Iraq's stability.

Soldiers and policemen cast their ballots for the provincial elections on Saturday, a week ahead of the main vote, the country's first since March 2010 parliamentary polls. It is also the first election since US troops withdrew from Iraq in December 2011.

The election also comes amid a long-running crisis between Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and several of his previous government partners.

There are also fears that the conflict in Syria has the potential to spread to Iraq.

More than 8,000 candidates are standing in the elections, with 378 seats on provincial councils up for grabs. An estimated 16.2 million Iraqis are eligible to vote, among them about 650,000 members of the security forces.

Although security has markedly improved since the height of civil strife in Iraq in 2006-2007, 271 people were killed in March, making it the deadliest month since August, according to figures from newswire AFP.

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