Eight people were killed in attacks in Samarra and Baquba on Tuesday, as the Iraqi parliament reconvened to review means to end the country's sectarian violence. In Samarra, some 120 kilometres north of Baghdad, three people died and five injured in two blasts.
Eyewitnesses told Deutsche Presse-Agentur that at Baquba, 60 kilometres north-east of Baghdad, five Iraqis died in separate attacks.
Meanwhile in Baghdad, Iraq's parliament has reopened after a month-long recess. At the top of the agenda was the controversial question of whether to allow some of Iraq's provinces to merge into larger autonomous regions, AFP reported.
At this point, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition government is struggling to unite Iraq's warring factions. "I urge all people of goodwill to come forward to support the national reconciliation project, otherwise we will face the worst period in modern Iraqi history," speaker Mahmud Mashhadani said as he opened the session.
"We are the elected leaders of Iraq and I'm confident that the terrorists will not succeed in what they do," he said.
