The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Ramadi

A suicide bomber Sunday detonated his explosive vest outside a tribal leader's house in Iraq's Anbar province, killing six people, while three people died in other violence, officials said.

The suicide bomber launched the attack late afternoon at a checkpoint outside the sheikh's rural homestead near the city of Fallujah, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad, the officials said.

At least four people were wounded in the blast.

A doctor at Fallujah hospital, Ismail al-Jumaili, said the incident occurred when tribal leaders had gathered to welcome some prisoners who had been freed a few hours earlier by the US military.

The tribal leaders are members of the so-called Awakening front against Al-Qaeda, which has been credited with largely turning around the security situation in the province, once a hotbed of insurgency.