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BAGHDAD (AP) ― An Iraqi lawmaker loyal to anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was killed Thursday when a bomb struck his convoy in Baghdad, officials said.

The explosion hit the convoy carrying Saleh al-Auqaeili and other Shiite lawmakers from al-Sadr's parliament bloc as it passed about 200 yards from an Iraqi army checkpoint near Baghdad's main Shiite district of Sadr City, according to one of his colleagues. At least one bystander was also killed in the bombing.

Al-Auqaeili was taken to a hospital in Baghdad, where he later died of his wounds, according to Sadrist spokesman Ahmed al-Massoudi and a fellow lawmaker, Hassan al-Rubaie.

The U.S. military blamed Shiite extremists for the blast, which occurred shortly before 10 a.m. The attack raised concerns that internal rivalries within political groupings, whether Shiite or Sunni, could emerge ahead of upcoming provincial elections. Internal battles could be a major threat to Iraq's stability, even as sectarian violence ebbs.

A U.S. commander on Thursday warned that he sees a risk of "nefarious" Iranian meddling in Iraq's upcoming elections - including the possibility of assassinations.

Maj. Gen. Michael Oates, who commands an area south of Baghdad, told reporters he expects an "uptick" in bombings and other attacks, including "assassinating prominent candidates" as the elections approach. His comments were not linked to the al-Auqaeili killing.

Al-Auqaeili was a senior member of al-Sadr's political bloc, which has 30 seats in the 275-member parliament. The Shiite cleric's cease-fire order to his militia has been a key factor in a sharp decline in violence over the past year.

The 37-year-old former professor was known for his moderate stance in the al-Sadr movement, where some factions are pushing for a return to violence, said another Sadrist lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal issues.

Several followers of al-Sadr have been targeted in past attacks, but Thursday's bombing was notable because it occurred within a section of Sadr City that is considered secured by the U.S. military.

Sadr City and surrounding areas were long dominated by al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and were the site of fierce clashes between U.S.-Iraqi forces and Shiite extremists earlier this year. The area has been relatively peaceful after al-Sadr declared his cease-fire and the Iraqi security forces assumed control in late May.

Some Sadrists, however, accused the Americans and their Iraqi allies of targeting al-Auqaeili because of the Sadr movement's opposition to a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement under negotiation for months.

"The occupation forces sent us a message by staging this attack because of our stance against the agreement," said al-Massoudi, the Sadrist spokesman.

Falah Hassan Shanshal, who was riding in a different car in the same convoy, said the group became suspicious when discovering there were no traffic jams in the usually crowded area. He said the "operation was a pre-planned one" and that the explosion was remote-controlled.

The bomb was planted in a hole near the road, Shanshal said, demanding a government investigation into how it was planted so close to the checkpoint. "We hold the security forces responsible for this attack. They should be responsible for the security of the city," he said.

AP Television News footage showed the charred hulk of a motorcycle and the white SUV that apparently was carrying the officials on a road lined with a blue concrete wall erected by the U.S. military to protect the area.

An Interior Ministry official confirmed it was a roadside bomb and said two other people were killed in the blast. He declined to be identified because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Also earlier, Maj. Mark Cheadle, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Baghdad, said the blast killed a civilian riding by on a motorcycle and wounded three other people in a car.

Tensions have been rising over the U.S.-Iraqi security talks on a deal that would replace the U.N. mandate for American forces, which expires at the end of the year.

Al-Sadr, who is believed to live in Iran but retains significant political clout in Iraq, strongly opposes the U.S. military presence. He and other critics fear that the new pact will bind the U.S. and Iraq in a long-term relationship, instead of restoring Iraqi sovereignty.

In other violence, bombs hit houses of people who had recently returned to their religiously mixed neighborhoods south of Baghdad, killing nine people, Iraqi officials said Thursday.

One of the blasts killed a Sunni Muslim couple and their three children on Wednesday in Madain. The second attack killed four members of a Shiite family in Baghdad's Wihda district the same day, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information.

A wave of brutal sectarian violence drove many Sunnis and Shiites to flee homes in neighborhoods where the two sects were mixed and take refuge in areas where one sect or the other dominates. With the easing of sectarian violence over the past year, some have tried to return to their original homes.

Also Thursday, a U.S.-allied Sunni militia leader was killed with three of his relatives when a roadside bomb exploded next to a pickup truck in which they were traveling in Udaim, north of Baghdad, police said.

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