Iraq lawmaker killed by suicide bomber
Onlookers gather at the scene of a motorcycle bomb blast near a primary school in the ethnically mixed Iraqi city of Kirkuk, 240 kms north of the capital Baghdad.
A Sunni member of Iraq's parliament known for helping reduce violence in the country has been killed by a suicide bomber. Member of Parliament Eifan Saadoun al-Issawi died in the city of Fallujah.
He was killed when a militant posing as a construction worker gave him a hug. The militant wrapped his arms around the lawmaker and said "Allahu Akbar (God is greatest)" before blowing himself up, Agence France Presse reported.
More from GlobalPost: Explosions across Iraq kill at least 22, wound 76
No one claimed responsibility for the attack. But it comes as Iraq is seeing more sectarian violence. The deputy head of the Anbar provincial council suspects that the attacker was linked to al Qaeda, Reuters reported.
Indeed, the murdered lawmaker was a leader of the Sahwa, a collection of Sunni tribal militias that fought against al Qaeda from late 2006, Al Jazeera reported.
His group, drawn from Iraq's Sunni Arabs, has been seen a key factor in reducing violence in the country since 2006, BBC News reported.
He joined parliament after another Sunni MP was killed in August 2011, according to Al Jazeera.