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BAGHDAD, Nov 9 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives killed five Sunni Arab tribal leaders in Iraq's Diyala province on Friday, police said.

They said the bomber blew himself up in a meeting of local tribal leaders from the area. Those killed were members of the Diyala Salvation Council, a body set up to oppose al Qaeda in Iraq in the province.

Police said three people were wounded in the attack in the village of Dojemah, near the town of Khalis. Among those killed were the deputy head of the Diyala Salvation Council, Sheikh Faeiz Lefta al-Obaidi.

After tribal leaders largely drove al Qaeda out of Iraq's Anbar province, formerly a key stronghold of the insurgency, tribal groups opposed to al Qaeda militants have sprung up in other areas of Iraq.

Diyala, a mixed Shi'ite and Sunni province northeast of Baghdad, has been among Iraq's most violent areas in recent months. On Oct 29, a suicide bomber on a bicycle killed 30 Iraqi policeman at a base in Diyala, in the deadliest recent suicide bombing in Iraq.

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