3/29/2005:
DUBAI - The Islamic Army in Iraq, one of the main armed groups in the country, claimed responsibility Tuesday for the firing of mortar rounds near the convention center in Baghdad where the new Iraqi parliament was meeting.
A unit fired "four mortar rounds against the seat of the Iraqi National Assembly in the Green Zone where a meeting was underway in the afternoon," the IAI said in a statement posted on the Internet.
The authenticity of the statement could not be confirmed.
Two mortar rounds struck near the convention center where MPs were gathering for the session at around 1:15 pm (1015 GMT).
The center is located inside the heavily fortified city center compound known as the Green Zone, which also contains the US embassy and the offices of the interim government.
The Islamic Army in Iraq has repeatedly taken credit for attacks and for the abduction -- and sometimes killing -- of foreign hostages.