Iraqi MP killed in bomb attack

An Iraqi member of parliament has been killed in a roadside bomb attack in eastern Baghdad, officials say.

At least two other people were also killed in the attack on the convoy of Saleh al-Auqaeili, a member of the Sadrist bloc, on Thursday.

Five other people were injured.

"The political committee announces the death of Saleh al-Auqaeili resulting from injuries sustained in a bomb attack in Baghdad today," a statement from the Sadrist political movement said.

Several other parliament members were travelling with al-Auqaeili, a senior member of the political party loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, the populist Shia leader who has taken a vocal stance against the US presence in Iraq.

Falah Hassan Shanshal, a Sadr party member, said al-Auqaeili had been taken to the military hospital in the government and diplomatic Green Zone in the capital for treatment. He later died of his injuries.

The explosion occurred as al-Auqaeili's car passed an army checkpoint in the Habibiyah area near Baghdad's mainly Shia district of Sadr City.

He became the first Iraqi MP to be killed since the April 12, 2007 suicide bombing of the national parliament, where one politician and seven other people died.