Iraqi MP killed in suicide attack

An Iraqi member of parliament and his bodyguard have been killed in a suicide attack in western Anbar province, officials say.

Ayfan Sadoun al-Essawi, a member of the secular Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc that is part of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's national unity government, was targeted as he inspected a road being constructed south of Fallujah.

"The moment he stepped out of the car to check out this road between Fallujah and Amriyah, at this moment, there was a man. He came to him, hugged him, said Allahu Akbar, and blew himself up," said Sohaib Haqi, the chief of Essawi's office.

The attack is likely to raise tensions with Iraq already grappling with a political crisis that has pitted Maliki against Iraqiya, which has frequently called for him to resign.

Anbar province, which is dominated by Iraq's Sunni minority, has been the scene of more than three weeks of protests against the Shia-led government. They were sparked by the arrest of bodyguards assigned to Iraq's Sunni finance minister, who comes from the al-Essawi tribe as the lawmaker who was killed on Tuesday.