best wishes
New Iraqi Parliament Meets for First Time
Explosions Rattle Windows During Meeting
By Caryle Murphy, John Ward Anderson and Daniel Williams
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, March 16, 2005; 9:48 AM
BAGHDAD, March 16 -- Amid tight security and the sound of explosions, Iraq's new parliament met for the first time Wednesday as Iraqi politicians and citizens alike urged lawmakers to stop bickering, form a new government and tackle the country's numerous problems, particularly the violent insurgency.
The source of the blasts, which apparently came from mortars, was under investigation by the U.S. military. The explosions rattled windows in the auditorium inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, where lawmakers gathered at 11 a.m. (3 a.m. EST) for the first meeting of a freely elected parliament in Iraq in almost 50 years.