CAIRO: The Arab League strongly condemned the deadly suicide attack inside Iraq s parliament building on Thursday and urged the Iraqi people to work together against violence.

Secretary General Amr Moussa strongly condemns the terrorist explosion which took place today in the Iraqi parliament, ending the lives of a number of deputies and innocent employees and injuring others, the Cairo-based organization said in a statement. It called on the Iraqi people to close ranks and work together against violence and sectarianism and to restore stability.

At least three people were killed when a suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest and carrying a briefcase blew himself up in the cafeteria of the parliament building.

A security official told AFP that two of the dead were lawmakers and the third a parliamentary employee, although Iraqi state television said all three were MPs.

The Arab League has been trying to organize a national reconciliation conference following up on a similar meeting held in Cairo in November 2005 but it has been continuously delayed.