At least 18 people have died and at least 30 injured in a suicide bomb attack on a crowd of tribal leaders and provincial officials near the Iraqi city of Baquba, officials have said.

Seven policemen, three of them senior officers, were among those killed in Monday's attack at Shifta, west of Baquba, said Khaider al-Timimi, a police brigadier.

The attack occurred at 8:30pm (1730 GMT) as the leaders met in the mosque for the evening meal that breaks the daytime fast observed by Muslims during Ramadan, a security official said.

The negotiations were aimed at easing tensions in the city, which lies 65km north of Baghdad.

Baquba is the capital of Diyala province, where recent US and Iraqi offensives have launched operations to stop fighters from al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Possible target

Police named one of the dead police officers as Brigadier-General Ali Dulayyan. Two other police brigadier-generals were also killed.

Salah al-Jurani, a police major who was in the mosque, said the bomber appeared to target Raad Mullah Jawad, the provincial governor.

Al-Jurani said the bomber blew himself up as Jawad's guards tried to stop the attacker.

Also on Monday, a suicide truck bomber killed six people on the road between northwestern Tal Afar and Mosul, police said.

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