Iraq suicide bomber was kin of target

BAGHDAD, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Iraqi officials said a suicide bomber who blew himself up at a fence-mending luncheon was a relative of the tribal leader who hosted the event.

The Iraqi Defense Ministry Saturday said the blast inside a crowded hall in Yusufiyah killed as many as 32 people and wounded around 70 was the worst terrorist attack in Iraq in weeks.

Officials said the bomber was well known to the tribe and was able to get past security without being searched.

The Washington Post said Friday's luncheon was hosted by a Sunni chief seeking to reconcile differences with Shiite tribes in the region, which had been so violent that local residents nicknamed it the "Triangle of Death."

The chief was among the wounded, officials said.

Elsewhere in Iraq, two brothers died when a car bomb went off Saturday in the town of Sinjat, 69 miles west of Mosul. Interior Ministry officials told CNN that bomb appeared to have been attached to the car without the driver's knowledge.