Iraq: Seven killed in violence

A suicide bomber killed three people at a reception at an office of Iraq’s largest Sunni political party, a police and party officials said today.

The blast tore through the lobby of the Iraqi Islamic Party’s headquarters in Mosul at midnight, said Mohammed Shakir al-Ghanam, a party official. Two other guards were wounded, he said.

A fourth body found at the scene was believed to be that of the bomber, said police Brig. Maj. Mohammed al-Wagga.

Mosul lies about 225 miles north-west of Baghdad.

A roadside bomb killed two women in a civilian car in Mahmoudiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad, police said.

The bodies of two men, shot execution-style in the head, were found on a road south of Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, said police Brig. Burhan Tayib Taha.