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Report: Hussein underwent successful surgery for hernia

BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein underwent an operation to repair a hernia about 10 days ago but has made a full recovery, the Associated Press reported Tuesday, quoting unnamed Iraqi sources.

The ousted dictator was taken to the Ibn Sina hospital near the U.S.-controlled Green Zone for the procedure, which was performed by Iraqi doctors, the AP reported, quoting sources close to the Human Rights Ministry. The operation lasted about an hour and Hussein was returned to his cell the same day, the sources said on condition of anonymity.

Efforts to contact U.S. officials were unsuccessful because their offices were closed for the day.

HATRA, Iraq - Investigators have begun unearthing a mass grave near this northern Iraqi village, uncovering more than 100 bodies and seeking evidence to use in a future trial of Saddam Hussein.

The bodies, believed to be Kurds killed during Hussein's crackdown in 1987-88, are buried in nine trenches, according to Greg Kehoe, an American who works with the Iraqi Special Tribunal, which is preparing the trial of Hussein and his henchmen.

Kehoe said his team has removed 120 bodies from a trench believed to contain as many as 300 bodies.

UNITED NATIONS - The United States said Tuesday it will conduct "a full investigation" along with the Iraqi government of the reported disappearance from Iraq's nuclear facilities of high-precision equipment that could be used to make nuclear weapons.

In a letter to the Security Council on Monday, U.N. nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei said satellite photos and follow-up investigations show "widespread and apparently systematic dismantlement" at sites related to Iraq's nuclear program, which had been subject to monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

NAJAF, Iraq - Iraq's top Shiite cleric is urging Iraqis to register to vote in the January elections, his office said Tuesday.

"All citizens eligible for voting, both males and females, should make sure that their names are correctly written in the electoral record," Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said in a statement released by his office.

Voter registration starts Nov. 1 and lasts six weeks, according to the statement.

TOKYO - With only $1-billion in hand out of $13.6-billion pledged, Iraq's deputy prime minister on Wednesday called on nations to fulfill their promises of aid at the start of a 55-nation conference aimed at increasing donations for the reconstruction of Iraq.

Five members of Iraq's interim Cabinet, including Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, were at the two-day conference to try to persuade participants that their country is both in need of donations and is safe enough for the money to be effective.

The conference is the first since the new government assumed power in July.