Iraq MPs vow to defy bloodshed after parliament bomb

BAGHDAD: Iraqi lawmakers held a special session of parliament on Friday to condemn a suicide bombing in their canteen and vowed that the spectacular breach of security would not derail the political process.   

The bombing, suspected to have been carried out by an MP's bodyguard, came at the end of lunchtime on Thursday as lawmakers finished their meals, leaving pools of blood and body parts strewn across the cafeteria.   

The US military on Friday lowered the number of deaths it could confirm to only one from an earlier estimate of eight dead announced a few hours after the attack, while an Iraqi security official said three people died.   

The stench of burnt flesh still lingered in the air, with body parts still scattered across the cafeteria hall, said an AFP reporter who visited the scene 24 hours after the blast.   

In one corner lay what was believed to be a leg of the bomber as blood-splattered walls bore testimony to Thursday's horror and windows smashed by the explosion looked as if "an earthquake" had hit the hall.   

"Yesterday we said eight killed. That was from multiple sources. What we're saying is, we can only confirm one was killed," a US military official quoted spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver as saying.   

"We're going from what was reported to what was confirmed today," he added.   

The military said 22 people were wounded in the attack and that 14 had since been discharged after treatment at a US-run combat hospital.   

An Iraqi security official said three people, including one MP, had died. On Thursday, officials had said two MPs were killed, although parliamentarians on Friday named just one Sunni lawmaker, Mohammed Awad, as having been killed.   

The less than two-hour extraordinary parliament session was a relatively small gathering, partly because of stepped up security measures around the complex that prevented some lawmakers from attending.   

But some top leaders made it to the session, including Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh and Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi.   

"This meeting is a clear message to all terrorists and to everyone who tries to halt this blessed process, which we should sacrifice ourselves for," a grave-faced Sunni speaker Mahmud Mashhadani told lawmakers.   

MPs stood twice for minutes of silence before Saleh and other MPs took turns to speak. Some of the wounded, including Sunni woman MP Razha Hamdun Abdallah, expressed their thanks to well-wishers from the podium and called for a unified battle against violence.   

"We have to forget our pain and unite again for the sake of Iraq," said a composed Abdallah, wearing Western clothes and a bandage around her neck.   

She was strongly supported by Mashhadani.   

"We pledge before our people that we will spearhead efforts to make the political process successful," he said.   

"The house of deputies, the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government are all in one boat. If one drowns all will drown, but Iraq's vessel must never sink," said the speaker, calling on neighbouring states to help his war-torn nation.   

Thursday's attack was the most spectacular breach of the multiple layers of security in the Baghdad Green Zone that houses the government, the US mission and other foreign embassies, since the US-led invasion four years ago.   

The bombing also defied the new security crackdown that has put tens of thousands of US and Iraqi troops on the streets, leaving Washington and the US military rattled as to how it occurred.   

"It's very troubling that this happened inside the Green Zone. And we're going to work to make sure that, one, we find out how it happened and that it doesn't happen again," said Dana Perino, White House spokeswoman.   

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is in South Korea in a bid to drum up international support for his beleaguered country, condemned the attack and called for a criminal investigation.   

"What happened yesterday was a gross violation of the house of deputies and state institutions," said Saleh, a Kurd, as he spoke from his seat during the Friday's assembly.   

He and many other MPs paid condolences to Mohammed Awad, indicating that only one lawmaker was killed in the bombing.