Suicide bomber breaches security in Iraqi parliament

~ The incident cast doubt on progress in the latest U.S.-Iraqi bid to stop violence in the capital.

BAGHDAD -- A suicide bomber slipped through the tightest security net in Baghdad and blew himself up in the midst of lawmakers having lunch in the parliament dining hall Thursday. U.S. officials said eight people, including parliament members, were killed in the deadliest-ever attack in the American-guarded Green Zone.

The stunning breach of security, on the same day that a massive bombing destroyed one of Baghdad's main bridges, laid a cloud of heavy doubt about progress in the latest U.S.-Iraqi bid to clamp off violence in the capital.

A news video camera captured the moment of the blast, about 2:30 p.m. -- a flash and an orange ball of fire causing Jalaluddin al-Saghir, a startled parliament member who was being interviewed, to duck. Smoke and dust billowed through the area, and confused and frightened lawmakers and others could be heard screaming for help and to find colleagues. Al-Saghir reportedly escaped injury.

Three miles north and seven hours earlier, a bombing sent a major bridge linking east and west Baghdad plunging into the Tigris River. Several cars plummeted into the murky, brown water, and at least 10 people were known to have died. Many more were believed missing.

Police blamed a suicide truck bomber for the attack on the al-Sarafiya bridge, which the British built in the 1950s. AP Television News video, however, showed the bridge broken in two places -- perhaps the result of two blasts.

Security officials at Iraq's parliament said they believed the bomber in the cafeteria attack was a bodyguard of a Sunni lawmaker who was not among the casualties.

Trademarks of al-Qaida

U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the attack bore the trademarks of al-Qaida in Iraq. The terrorist group is fighting to oust U.S. forces from Iraq and against fellow Sunnis in the west of the country who have begun to leave the insurgency and side with U.S. and Iraqi soldiers.

"We don't know at this point who it was. We do know in the past that suicide vests have been used predominantly by al-Qaida," the U.S. military spokesman said.

Nevertheless, it would be the second time in less than a month that a bodyguard wearing a suicide vest attacked a Sunni official. On March 23 a member of Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie's security detail exploded his suicide vest and seriously wounded al-Zubaie, the highest-ranking Sunni in the Iraqi government.

The parliament security officials, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, said two satchel bombs also were found in the parliament building near the dining hall. Caldwell said eight were dead in the blast, but hours after the bombing Iraqi officials were giving wildly varying accounts of how many people died and who they were. The government never gave a final death toll Thursday.

President Bush strongly condemned the attack, saying: "My message to the Iraqi government is `We stand with you."'

"It reminds us, though, that there is an enemy willing to bomb innocent people in a symbol of democracy," he said.

But congressional Democrats said the attack was evidence that substantial progress was not being made in the war.

"How the president and people around him can say things are going well is really hard to comprehend," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

"This is the progress we've been hearing about?" asked Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. "And tell me, how are more American troops going to stop a single fanatic with explosives strapped to his chest?"

Congress has passed bills that would force the Bush administration to set a timetable for withdrawing American troops. Bush has said he would veto any such measure and that American forces need more time to curb the raging violence.

Hours after the bombing, Iraqi officials including Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh met with the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and decided to put the Interior Ministry in charge of security at parliament, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

Petraeus issued a statement saying the U.S. military extended condolences to those "martyred" in the bombing. It was "an attack on democracy by individuals who oppose the concept of government that is representative of and responsible to the people," he said.

Earlier in the day, security officials brought dogs inside the building in a rare precaution -- apparently concerned that an attack might take place.

But a security scanner that checks pedestrians at the entrance to the Green Zone near the parliament building was not working Thursday, Abu Bakr said. People were searched only by hand and had to pass through metal detectors, he said.