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IRAQ: Iraqi parliament convenes for special session after suicide blast

Iraqi legislators met for a special Friday session of Parliament after a suicide bombing in the building left one dead and 22 wounded. Leaders from across Iraq's sectarian divide pleaded for unity at a special session of parliament on Friday (April 13), gathering under high security to condemn a suicide bombing that tore through the building the day before. The bombing, which killed one lawmaker, was the worst breach of security in Baghdad's most secure area -- the Green Zone that houses parliament, government offices and the U.S. embassy. Scores of lawmakers turned up, including some of those wounded in the attack. Parliament Speaker Mahmoud Mashhadani, a Sunni, opened the special session by asking MPs to read verses of the Koran to mourn the death of Mohammed Awdh, a member of the National Front for Iraqi Dialogue, a small Sunni party. "In our meeting today there is a clear message to the terrorists and to all those who want to halt this blessed process; we ought to sacrifice all that is dear for its success and continuation," he said. Mashhadani said that Awdh's chair would be left empty. "We promise him as he is in the invisible world now that we will keep his chair in our hearts before as we keep it in our hall," he said. Shi'ite lawmakers also condemned the attack. "We will not hesitate and will never retreat, or be afraid of death, until we achieve the goals of our dear Iraqi people for a free, generous, dear and decent life," said leading Shi'ite Hadi al-Amiri. The U.S. military initially said eight people were killed and more than 20 wounded in Thursday's blast. But on Friday they revised the toll down to one killed and two dozen wounded, in line with figures from Iraqi officials. An al Qaeda-backed group, the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, claimed responsibility in a Web statement for the worst breach of security in Baghdad's most secure area -- the Green Zone that also houses government offices and embassies.

ITN Source | April 13, 2007Watch more videos from ITN Source

Tags:. .thursdays. .asking. .small. .security. .secure











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