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Iraqi parl't launches probe into Friday's mass killing of worshippers in Diyala

BAGHDAD, Aug 23 (KUNA) -- The Iraqi Parliament has launched a parliamentary probe into the killing of 70 worshippers during Friday prayers in the Sunni Province of Diyala.
"The Parliament has formed a panel to probe the incident including members of the legislative and legal affairs committee as well as representatives of the security agencies," the Parliament Speaker Salem Al-Juburi said in a press conference Saturday.
He pointed the investigating team will visit Baqouba today to listen to the eyewitnesses and relatives of the victims and will present its report to the parliament within 48 hours.
The Interior Ministry has vowed to work to reveal the circumstances of the brutal attack on the mosque, he said.
Al-Juburi regretted the killing of innocent people at the hands of armed men linked to the security agencies in the province.
He went on to say that the parliament is embarking on legislations to ban ordinary people's possession of weapons.
Al-Juburi's remarks were meant to calm rising tensions after the killing of the 70 people at a Sunni mosque.
They also came after the rights group Amnesty International termed Friday's attack a "massacre" and said Iraqi authorities "must properly investigate the unlawful killing of dozens of worshippers." (end) ahh.ibi