A question mark hangs over my planned trip to Iraqi Kurdistan following yesterday's double suicide bombing in Arbil.

Arbil is a city I know well -- I spent a month there last year before the war.

Although the proposed trip to Northern Iraq later this month didn't include Arbil, the biggest worry is that elements linked to the Islamist Ansar Al-Islam group could be re-emerging. As I learnt when I was in Northern Iraq and they murdered Australian journalist Paul Moran in a car bombing, Ansar's attacks are often unexpected and devastating.

We're getting updated security advice to see if the assignment can still go ahead.