Baghdad  - Two civilians were killed and eight others wounded in separate bomb attacks in central and northern Iraq on Monday, local media cited police sources as saying.

Two people were killed in a bomb attack in the al-Eishaqi region south of the town of Tikrit, located 175 kilometres north of the capital Baghdad, the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency reported.

In Baghdad, four civilians were injured by a bomb that was stuck to a civilian vehicle and was detonated in the Saeeda area in the city's south-east, a police source told VOI.

In the northern city of Mosul city, four civilians were injured when an explosive charge went off near an Iraqi army patrol vehicle in the al-Darkzaleyya area.

Mosul, the capital city of Nineveh province, lies some 400 kilometres north of Baghdad.

The blast came one day after a suicide bomber killed the deputy head of the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue (IFND) in Nineveh's al-Qayara's district. The IFND is a Sunni party led by Salah al-Mutlak with 11 seats in the parliament.

A suicide bomber wearing an explosives belt broke into the guesthouse of MP Hassan Zidan al-Laheebi in al-Hajj village, and blew himself up late Sunday, the VOI reported.

The blast killed Laheebi and wounded two of his security personnel.

The incident comes amid fears of an escalation in violence ahead of the January 31 provincial elections.

On Friday, unknown gunmen shot dead an Iraqi provincial council election candidate in an attack in Hilla, south of Baghdad. According to witnesses, the gunmen intercepted Haitham al-Husseiny's car and shot him.

Separately, the Iraqi parliament on Monday postponed its the election of a speaker until February 4 during a session presided over by First Deputy Speaker Sheikh Khaled Atiya.

Mahmoud al-Mashhadani stepped down as parliament speaker following a heated argument with members of parliamentary committees, during which he allegedly used "offensive" language that prompted many parliamentarians to call for his resignation. (dpa)