A suicide car bomb that exploded today in a heavily guarded neighbourhood of Baghdad killed two people and wounded 12.
Police said the explosion damaged the homes of former interim prime minister Iyad Allawi, a secular Shia politician, and Saleh al-Mutlaq, leader of the National Dialogue Front, a small Sunni Arab party.
Most of those injured near the fortified Green Zone diplomatic and government compound were police and guards at a checkpoint.
Iraq has seen a reported fall in violence over the last several months after the United States sent 30,000 extra troops to the country, but assassinations are frequent and political parties are divided on sectarian and ethnic lines.