Bombs, bullets turn Baghdad a city on the edge

Heavy bursts of gunfire erupted at the Sanak bridge, which is near the Green Zone, the high security area that houses the US and British embassies and Iraqi government offices.

The origin of the shooting was unclear. But Iraqi soldiers responded with a sustained flurry in several directions. US soldiers at a roadblock on the bridge leapt behind their vehicles.

The shooting broke a tense silence in central Baghdad, which has been transformed into a virtual ghost town because of the stringent security measures on the capital for Sunday's vote.

The thick grey haze hanging over the metropolis of seven million people and the absence of diesel-spewing taxis and honking minibuses gave an eery atmosphere to the city centre.