The building which houses Iraq's parliament is more accessible to the public and not as secure as the PM's offices or the homes of various political leaders. But the April 12 attack is probably the most serious breach of security to date in the Green Zone, the swathe of the city guarded by the US and allied militaries, private security contractors and Iraqi troops. One Sunni MP was killed in the blast.

The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), an umbrella for Neo-Salafi insurgent groups which includes al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia on April 13 claimed responsibility for the attack which also wounded at least 22 other people. ISI said in an Internet posting the bomber had carried out the attack after studying the site, adding: "A heroic knight of the Islamic State of Iraq, may God bless its men, went inside the crowd of the infidels of the so-called parliament on Thursday, April 12, 2007... God has destroyed the crowds of defectors and infidels". Parliament on April 13 held an emergency "defiance session" to mourn the death of Muhammad Awad, the MP who was killed and condemn the "terrorists" for their attack. Awad was a member of the National Dialogue Front, a Sunni Arab political party.

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