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| Iraq MPs to hold special session | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Iraq's parliament is to hold a special session on Friday - normally a day of rest - in a defiant response to a suicide bombing inside its building. | |
| Three MPs were among the eight people killed on Thursday when a bomber infiltrated a tight security cordon and detonated explosives in a cafeteria. | |
| An inquiry has begun into the blast in Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone. | |
| President George W Bush condemned the attack and promised the US would help Iraq defend itself against extremists. | |
| "It reminds us, though, that there is an enemy willing to bomb innocent people and a symbol of democracy," President Bush said. | |
| The US government has denied that the attack shows its troop increase is having little impact on security. | The US government has denied that the attack shows its troop increase is having little impact on security. |
| Click here for a aerial map of the Green Zone | Click here for a aerial map of the Green Zone |
| Police said they believed a suicide bomber was involved in the attack, which also injured at least 23 people. | Police said they believed a suicide bomber was involved in the attack, which also injured at least 23 people. |
| The canteen was just filling up... the session was just ending and all of a sudden there was just this huge explosion MP Haydar Abbadi | The canteen was just filling up... the session was just ending and all of a sudden there was just this huge explosion MP Haydar Abbadi |
| The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says that one of the theories being investigated is that the bomber, who may have worn a belt of explosives, could have been bodyguard to a member of parliament. | The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says that one of the theories being investigated is that the bomber, who may have worn a belt of explosives, could have been bodyguard to a member of parliament. |
| Questions will be asked about how the bomber managed to penetrate one of the most stringently guarded buildings in the country, he says. | Questions will be asked about how the bomber managed to penetrate one of the most stringently guarded buildings in the country, he says. |
| This is the first time a bomb has gone off inside the building although it has been shaken by several mortar attacks in the past. | This is the first time a bomb has gone off inside the building although it has been shaken by several mortar attacks in the past. |
| Bomber's journey | Bomber's journey |
| Thursday's bomber would have had to pass through a checkpoint manned by US and Iraqi forces on the edge of the Green Zone and then through several checkpoints run by security contractors or coalition forces within it. | Thursday's bomber would have had to pass through a checkpoint manned by US and Iraqi forces on the edge of the Green Zone and then through several checkpoints run by security contractors or coalition forces within it. |
| An Iraqi government spokesman told the Associated Press news agency that a private security firm had been responsible for guarding the parliament building, but that the interior ministry had now taken over security. | An Iraqi government spokesman told the Associated Press news agency that a private security firm had been responsible for guarding the parliament building, but that the interior ministry had now taken over security. |
| Footage showed officials carrying the injured from the building | |
| One MP questioned the parliament's checks, telling the BBC's World Today programme that some MPs' bodyguards were allowed to pass through checkpoints without being searched. | One MP questioned the parliament's checks, telling the BBC's World Today programme that some MPs' bodyguards were allowed to pass through checkpoints without being searched. |
| The attack is a major blow to the much-trumpeted Baghdad security surge now in its third month, our correspondent says. | |
| The security drive has brought down the rate of sectarian murders, but it has not stopped the bomb attacks. | The security drive has brought down the rate of sectarian murders, but it has not stopped the bomb attacks. |
| Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said the attack was a "criminal cowardly act" and that the violence would not weaken MPs' resolve. | Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said the attack was a "criminal cowardly act" and that the violence would not weaken MPs' resolve. |
| US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the attack did not prove that the increased number of troops, whose main aim was to improve security in and around Baghdad, was not working. | US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the attack did not prove that the increased number of troops, whose main aim was to improve security in and around Baghdad, was not working. |
| "There will be good days and bad days. But the commanders are carrying out their responsibilities and working to try to make the population more secure," Ms Rice said. | |
| Click to return | Click to return |