The Iraqi parliament on Saturday warned of further
acts aimed at "destabilizing" the country hours after an explosion
near the epicentre of ongoing anti-government protests in the capital
Baghdad.
An explosive device placed under a car went off late Friday near
Tahrir Square in central Baghdad.
Security forces said the blast left one person dead and 16 others
injured, while witnesses put the death toll at four.
"This blast marks a dangerous development in securing demonstrators'
safety. It proves there is a side that is seeking to destabilize
security and spread chaos," the parliament's Human Rights Committee
said without elaborating, according to Iraq's official news agency
INA.
Street protests started in Iraq in early October, with demonstrators
calling for the resignation of the government, the dissolution of
parliament and an overhaul of the country's political system that has
been in place since the 2003 US-led invasion of the country.
At least 319 protesters and security personnel have since died in
the demonstrations, mainly in the capital Baghdad and the oil-rich
south, according to official figures.
Several rights groups have accused the Iraqi security forces of using
excessive violence.
On Saturday, the parliament's Human Rights Committee called on
security forces and protesters to help limit any violence by what it
called the "third side" - those suspected of attacking the
protesters.
Iraqis stand at the site of a bomb explosion near Baghdad's Tahrir Square. AFP