Ten days ago, 29-year-old Scott Mounce, from Hull, died in a car bomb attack on the Mount Lebanon Hotel in Baghdad. The minister, Nesreen Barwari, was unhurt.Also in Mosul, gunmen opened fire from a car at an American patrol, wounding two military policemen. The dead men were believed to be guarding foreign workers at the power plant, which was being operated by the American company General Electric.In another incident in the city yesterday, gunmen fired on a convoy carrying Iraq's Public Works Minister north of Mosul, killing three bodyguards and wounding a fourth. Three others, thought to be British engineers, who were travelling in the second car, arrived safely at the compound.

Witnesses reported seeing their partly burnt bodies in blue clothing and flak jackets lying beside a burning four-wheel drive vehicle. A British civilian was shot and killed in Iraq yesterday when the vehicle he was travelling in was ambushed in the northern city of Mosul. The man was on his way to work as a security guard at a power station in the east of the city when masked gunmen in another vehicle opened fire on the two-car convoy.A Canadian civilian was also killed. The police say the developer continued paying Gilad Sharon even after the Greek project fell through. Israeli television has played a clandestinely taped video in which Mr Appel tells Mr Sharon his son would earn a lot of money.Police are also investigating Mr Sharon and his two sons, Omri (a Likud MP) and Gilad, on suspicion of receiving nearly $1m in foreign campaign funds, banned by Israeli law. Mr Mazuz is also required to take account of the political fallout.David Appel, often described as a Likud kingmaker, is alleged to have paid Gilad Sharon $700,000 for his consultancy services, when his father was foreign minister. Israeli analysts say he is the only leader who could defy the settler lobby and complete the withdrawal.The attorney general will have to be satisfied not just that there is a case to answer, but that there is a high probability of conviction.

Yosef Paritsky, the National Infrastructure minister, called for Mr Sharon to resign if he is charged. "I would expect him to say that he is ready to go home and fight from there to prove his innocence," he said.Ophir Pines, a senior Labour MP, said: "If there is an indictment, Sharon will have to resign immediately." Yossi Beilin, a former justice minister who leads the left-wing Yahad party, threatened massive demonstrations if Mr Sharon did not go.For Mr Sharon, the race is on between his plan to evacuate the Gaza Strip, for which he is trying to mobilise President Bush's support, and political oblivion. But I don't know if the attorney general will have the courage to do it."If Mr Sharon were indicted, he would be the first Israeli Prime Minister to stand trial. Her recommendation was endorsed by all her colleagues in the prosecution service.Dr Barak Medina, a Hebrew University constitutional law lecturer, said: "On the merits of the case, an indictment looks inevitable. He is expected to spend weeks reviewing evidence and consulting legal experts. Ms Arbel, a 60-year-old former judge, is nearing the end of her term as state attorney.