Iraq At least 33 people were killed in a series of suicide and bomb attacks in Iraq that marred the holiest Shiite Muslim day of Ashura for the second year running. Iraq Iraqi security forces arrested the alleged commander of an insurgent cell close to Al-Qaeda frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, police said. Mideast Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, which Israel has occupied for nearly 40 years, was to move into a decisive phase with its expected adoption by the government. US Top ministers from the United States and Japan held talks here that were likely to produce expressions of concern over North Korea's nuclear program and possible conflict in the Taiwan Strait. Togo Togo's leader Faure Gnassingbe said his regime wanted to show the international community that it was "capable of preserving peace" in the tiny west African state. India Thousands of Nepalese protested against King Gyanendra in the Indian capital, demanding the restoration of multi-party democracy in the restive Himalayan kingdom. Ireland The Irish Republican Army and its Sinn Fein political wing faced a deep crisis as Irish police lifted the veil on a probe appearing to link the IRA to a spectacular bank heist in Belfast December 20 and subsequent attempts to launder the stolen cash. Greece Greece called for greater security measures around the headquarters of the Orthodox Church in Istanbul after the discovery of a grenade on the roof of one of the churches in the compound.