Iraq's newly-elected parliament opened its first session in the capital of Baghdad on Wednesday. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

(Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

    BAGHDAD, March 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraq's newly-elected parliament opened its first session in the capital of Baghdad on Wednesday.

    The session, held in the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad, started with a reading of Qoran.

    The conference was presided over by Dhari al-Feiyad, the oldest member of the 275-seat National Assembly.

    Ashraf Qazi, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's special envoy to Iraq, conveyed Anna's congratulation. "There is a great chance for Iraqi people to move on the way of democracy," said Qazi.

    Ghazi al-Yawar, the outgoing interim Iraqi President, said the priority of the assembly is to draft a permanent constitution that represents all Iraqi sects.

    In the landmark Jan. 30 elections, the Shiite dominated United Iraqi Alliance won 140 seats, short of a two-thirds majority to form a government. A Kurdish coalition won 75 seats, followed by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's Iraqi List with 40 seats.

    The first session on Wednesday was largely a ceremonial one since major blocs were still locked in bickering over the formation of a new government.

    Just minutes before the meeting, explosions rattled windows in the fortified Green Zone and warning sirens sounded.

    The blasts, almost certainly from mortars, echoed across the city centre and smoke rose from the compound, housing Iraq's interim government offices and US embassy.

    The so-called Green Zone has come under frequent attacks by insurgents bent on undermining the US-backed government and disrupting the political process in the war-ravaged country. Enditem