BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber blew himself up in the Iraqi parliament cafeteria Thursday, killing at least eight people — including at least two lawmakers — and wounding about 30 in a stunning assault in the heart of the heavily fortified, U.S.-protected Green Zone. A news video camera captured the moment of the blast: a flash and an orange ball of fire causing a startled parliament member who was being interviewed to duck, and then the smoky, dust-filled aftermath of confusion and shouting. The video was shot by Alhurra, a U.S. government-funded Arab-language channel.
Iraqi officials later gave wildly varying accounts of how many people were killed and who they were, and some disputed the U.S. death toll but gave no definitive figure of their own.
The explosion came hours after a suicide truck bomb exploded on a major bridge in Baghdad, collapsing the steel structure and sending cars tumbling into the Tigris River, police and witnesses said. At least 10 people were killed.
The parliament bombing was believed to be the deadliest attack in the Green Zone, the enclave that houses http://yq.search.yahoo.com/search" method="post">Iraq's leadership as well as the U.S. Embassy, and is secured by American and Iraqi checkpoints.
Security officials at parliament, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, said they believed the bomber was a bodyguard of a Sunni member of parliament who was not among the dead. They would not name the member of parliament.
The officials also said two satchel bombs were found near the cafeteria. A U.S. bomb squad took the explosives away and detonated them without incident.
President Bush strongly condemned the attack, saying: "My message to the Iraqi government is `We stand with you.'"
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told The Associated Press that eight people were killed in the attack, which witness accounts indicated was carried out by a suicide bomber.
Iraqi officials said the bomber struck the cafeteria while several lawmakers were eating lunch, and at least two of them — both Sunnis — were killed. State television said 30 people were wounded.
"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," Caldwell said.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh suggested that those behind the attack might work in the building.
"There are some groups that work in politics during the day and do
