7 killed, 22 wounded in twin bombings outside Iraq mosque

United Nations has condemned the attack in Iraq's Diyala province Seven people have been killed and 22 wounded in a twin-bomb attack outside a Sunni mosque, north of Baghdad. The blasts in the town of Kanaan, 75km northeast of the capital , come less than a week before provincial elections are scheduled to take place across the country.
Friday's bombings targeted worshippers as they were leaving midday prayers at Kanaan's Omar Bin Abdul-Aziz mosque, police officials in the Diyala province confirmed.
Minutes after the Kanaan attack, a second bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in western Baghdad, wounding eight, according to police and hospital officials.
A security source from Diyala told Arabstoday that several members of the security forces stationed outside the mosque had been killed and wounded by the blasts. The source added that the area had been cordoned off and the bodies have been transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Martin Kobler, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative for Iraq, condemned the attack in Diyala, where Sunni partisans have stepped up attacks on Shiite Muslims, the UN news centre reported. "These brutal acts of violence, particularly in such sensitive areas, will not undermine the true and deep belief in peaceful co-existence among the people of Diyala," Kobler said in a statement. The diplomat expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and wished for a speedy recovery for the wounded.
Earlier on Friday, senior imams in the western Iraqi cities of Tikrit and Samarra criticised the government for refusing to meet their demands, and urged followers to observe fasting on Monday.
In Tikrit, the imam warned the Iraqi government against the threat of sectarian conflict, whilst in Samarra, the preacher urged the authorities to bring an end to the innocent killing and reiterated his refusal of Iranian interference in Iraq.
There were two separate prayer gatherings in Tikrit, 140km northwest of Baghdad, instead of the single unified gathering. Political analyst Alaa Alnchoa told Arabstoday that having two separate prayers on a day of unity like Friday is "a big mistake," adding, "we have a long road ahead and need to unite within the community because the government continues to ignores our demands."
Alnchoa claimed that some of the Islamic leaders had begun to bridge the gap between the Muslims factions, having called for unity to lift the injustice during their Friday sermons.
Saladin province, likes some of the other Iraqi Sunni-dominated provinces, has witnessed demonstrations denouncing the policies of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, with protesters have called on him to step down and to amend the constitution.