The new Iraqi parliament's second session ended in chaos today as deputies failed to select a new speaker and jeered one another.
It prompted independent experts to warn that the body risked frittering away its legitimacy and losing the momentum it gained in the watershed elections that saw millions come out to vote.
The parliament session had been due to start this morning but was held up for almost three hours as the winning Shi'ite and Kurdish blocs waited for the Sunni minority to decide on a candidate for parliament speaker.
Within minutes of opening, acting speaker Sheikh Dhari al-Fayad asked the 275-member assembly to adjourn because of the quarrel over the choice of his successor.
Outgoing President Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar has been resisting persistent pressure to assume the largely symbolic post.
Separately, two mortar rounds struck Baghdad near the convention centre where members were gathering for the session.
Earlier, at least one person was killed and 17 injured in a car bombing in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk.
The blast occurred in a predominantly Kurdish neighbourhood of the city. Five of the injured are said to be in a serious condition.
