Al Qaeda-controlled group calls Green Zone bombing a "message": report

An al Qaeda-controlled group on Thursday called the suicide bombing in the Iraqi parliament building a "message" to anyone who cooperates with "the occupier and its agents," the Time magazine reported.

In a message posted one hour after the bombing on a prominent militant website, the group, Islamic State in Iraq, warned Iraqis cooperating with the United States that "we will reach you wherever you are," according to the report.

In an assault apparently aimed at chilling negotiations between the Iraqi government and a faction of the insurgency, a suicide bomber blew himself up just after 2 p.m. Thursday at a cafe inside the parliament building in Baghdad's Green Zone.

Iraqi officials said the bomber was wearing a suicide vest and was a guard for one of the members of parliament.

Three legislators, four employees and the bomber himself were killed while 20 others including five lawmakers were injured.

Authorities are suspicious of a wider plot. Two weeks ago, U.S. and Iraqi forces found two suicide vests inside the Green Zone and there was speculation about the presence of a third in the area.

Source: Xinhua