Iraq's parliament, elected last December, is likely to convene on Sunday.
Hoiwever, there is no sign of a breakthrough in the political deadlock that is delaying formation of a government.
Sunni, Kurdish and Shia leaders met President Jalal Talabani for talks today and accepted in principle that parliament should convene on 12 March.
But the Shia Alliance, which has close to a majority in the new chamber, was holding further internal meetings to discuss whether to drop its request to delay the opening.
Eight killed in Baghdad bombs today
A roadside bomb in the western Amriya district killed six people, all civilians, while two others died when a car bomb blew up outside the Yarmouk hospital.
Police said Iraqi soldiers appeared to have been the targets in both attacks.
Fourteen people were injured.
And gunmen killed two people employed in the Green Zone, home to the Iraqi government and foreign embassies.
The two were on their way to work when they were attacked in the western Mansour district.
Abu Ghraib to close
A US military spokesman confirmed that Abu Ghraib prison, in western Baghdad, is to be closed, probably within three months.
Its 4,500 prisoners will be transferred to other jails in Iraq.
The prison in western Baghdad was a torture centre under Saddam Hussein before photographs of soldiers abusing Iraqis there in 2003 gave it a new notoriety.
US report on human rights
A US report on human rights abuses around the world has found that reports of killings and torture by the Iraqi government and its agents increased last year.
The State Department's annual report says police abuses included threats, intimidation and beatings, as well as the use of electric shocks.
The report also names China, North Korea, Burma, Iran and Zimbabwe as some of the worst offenders of human rights abuses.
