Explosion rocks café inside Iraqi parliament building

Many people were wounded when a bomb rocked Iraq’s parliament building in the heavily fortified Baghdad Green Zone today.

One news report said one person had been killed.

The explosion took place in a cafeteria while several politicians were eating lunch, said parliament official Mohammed Abu Bakr, who heads the media department.

“Several people were wounded, including members of parliament and some employees,” Abu Bakr said.

Al-Arabiyah and al-Jazeera television networks said a member of parliament was killed.

A spokesman for the US Embassy in Baghdad, which is also in the Green Zone, said no Americans were injured in the blast.

“We are aware of reports of an explosion in the Green Zone. We are investigating the nature and source of the explosion,” said spokesman Lou Fintor. “No Embassy employees or US citizens were affected.”

Meanwhile the Associated Press reported that a Sunni politician was killed in the parliament bombing.