Iraq blast hits main Shia group

There have been several attacks on Sciri followers

An explosion has taken place outside a building belonging to Iraq's main Shia Muslim political group in Baghdad.

One person was killed and several injured in the blast which targeted the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri).

The building was used by local militias linked to Sciri - and also civilians.

The group has been working closely with the US-led coalition in Iraq - the rotating head of the Iraqi Governing Council is the leader of Sciri.

On Thursday, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim said former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who was arrested last Saturday, would be tried in a special Iraqi court.

The men of the regime and terrorist elements are behind the attack Mohsen al-Hakim Sciri official

The day before, a Sciri official was killed in Iraq - an attack the group blamed on Saddam Hussein loyalists.

In a separate incident on Friday, two US soldiers were wounded when their truck, reportedly a tanker, was hit by a roadside bomb on the road between Baghdad and the Iraqi city of Falluja, the US military said.

Eyewitnesses said they had seen two dead Iraqis in a civilian car damaged in the blast.

On Wednesday, at least 10 people died and 15 were wounded when a fuel tanker exploded at a busy crossroads in Baghdad. The US military said it was a traffic accident.

Sciri violence

There was no immediate comment from the US military on the latest incident which happened early on Friday in western Baghdad.

Members of the Badr Corps used the house, but families also lived there, and there are reports that the building served as a religious school.

Saddam Hussein loyalists have been blamed for attacking Sciri members

The blast brought down half of the one-storey building.

"One woman died and eight other people were injured from the explosion in premises occupied by three families," said Mohsen al-Hakim, the IGC president's nephew.

Mohsen al-Hakim, blamed "agents of the old regime and terrorists" for the attack.

On Wednesday, senior party member Muhannad al-Hakim - cousin of the current IGC head - was killed while leaving his home in Baghdad.

In August, the president's brother and founder of Sciri, top Shia cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, was killed in a car bombing in the southern city of Najaf that left at least 85 people dead.