(dpa) - Explosions were heard in Baghdad Monday as US Vice-President Dick Cheney began talks with Iraqi and US diplomatic and military officials, according to media reports.
Explosions rocked the Iraqi capital, al-Jazeera television reported without giving any further details.
Cheney, one of the architects of the war in Iraq, arrived in Baghdad a day after Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, held talks with Iraqi leaders, as part of a Senate Armed Services Committee fact-finding mission.
In other acts of violence, the bodies of three members of the anti-al-Qaeda tribal forces, also known as the Awakening Councils, were found by police in Uzaim, 95 kilometres south-east of the northern city of Kirkuk, according to the Voices of Iraq news agency.
The US-funded councils have contributed to a decrease in violence in Sunni-dominated areas, which led to an increase in attacks on their members.