Three people have been killed and five wounded in two car bomb attacks south of Baghdad.
The blasts, about ten minutes apart, took place in the town of Mahmudiya, some 40km south of the capital. One of the car bombs exploded at an Iraqi army checkpoint.
Five separate car bombs also struck different areas of Baghdad earlier today, killing three police officers, and wounding 24 people.
The attacks came as President Jalal Talabani announced he would convene Iraq's new parliament in six days, meeting a constitutional requirement. Nearly three months after national elections, Iraq's political leaders are still fighting over the post of prime minister.
Since a bomb wrecked a Shia shrine on 22 February, hundreds have been killed in a wave of sectarian violence.
Iraq acknowledges criticism from Amnesty
The Iraqi government has acknowledged criticisms by the human rights group, Amnesty International, that it is breaching international law by detaining thousands of people without charge or access to a lawyer.
Not all the detainees mentioned in a report by Amnesty are being held by coalition forces.
Many more are being held at detention centres being run by the Iraqi administration, often under a great deal of secrecy.
The former Human Rights Chief at the UN Mission in Iraq, John Pache, said that during his time there he had received a number of reports of human rights violations.
The report says the treatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib jail near Baghdad, while under US control, amounted to a 'war crime'.
Responding to the report, a US military spokesman insisted all detainees were treated according to international conventions and Iraqi law.
