|
Bomb Kills Head of Iraq Governing Council
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq - The head of the Iraqi Governing Council was killed in a suicide car bombing near a U.S. checkpoint in central Baghdad on Monday, dealing a blow to U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq (news - web sites) ahead of a handover of sovereignty on June 30.
Abdel-Zahraa Othman, also known as Izzadine Saleem, was the second and
highest-ranking member of the U.S.-appointed council to be assassinated. He was
among four Iraqis killed in the blast, according to Redha Jawad Taki, a member
of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a Shiite Muslim
organization.
"Days like today convince us even more so that the transfer must stay on
track," said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, speaking on CNN.
Kimmitt said that terrorist groups were trying to derail the democratization
process in Iraq and that a suicide bomber was responsible for the attack.
As the current council president, a rotating position, Saleem was the
highest-ranking Iraqi official killed during the U.S.-run occupation. His death
occurred about six weeks before the United States plans to transfer power to
Iraqis and underscores the risks facing those perceived as owing their positions
to the Americans.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Saleem's death should not deter the
transfer of power.
"What this shows is that the terrorists and insurgents in Iraq are trying to
disrupt the peaceful transfer of power from the occupiers to the Iraqi people,
and these terrorists are enemies of the Iraqi people themselves," Straw said in
Brussels, Belgium upon arrival at a European Union (news
- web
sites) foreign ministers meeting. The ministers planned to discuss the
latest developments in Iraq.
Members of the Governing Council condemned the killing and vowed not to be
intimidated.
"The Iraqi leaders are the main targets of those terrorists and
anti-democratic forces, and we will not be intimidated from continuing our path
to build a new Iraq," said Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, speaking at
the World Economic Forum (news
- web
sites) in Southern Shuneh, Jordan.
One member, Salama al-Khafaji, said the bombing appeared to be an effort to
foment sectarian divisions in Iraq and disrupt the transfer of political power.
Another member, Naseer Kamel al-Chaderchi, blamed the bombing on the same groups
that have conducted other attacks, including a bombing of the U.N. headquarters
in Baghdad last year that killed 22 people, including U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira
de Mello.
Saleem, the name he went by most frequently, was a Shiite and a leader of the
Islamic Dawa Movement in the southern city of Basra. He was a writer,
philosopher and political activist, who served as editor of several newspapers
and magazines. The position of council head rotates monthly.
A doctor at Yarmouk Hospital Dr. Zaid Hillil says five people died in the
blast, with one apparently the suicide bomber.
Six Iraqis and two U.S. soldiers were injured in the bombing near the
coalition headquarters, which is called the Green Zone, Kimmitt said. Three cars
waiting in line at the headquarters were destroyed.
Abdul Razaq Abdul Karim, a gardener, was on the street near the checkpoint
when a convoy with a police escort arrived moments before the blast. A red
Volkswagen blew up in front of him.
"All I could see was a ball of fire rising into the air and there were body
parts all around. We picked up the pieces and some of them were burned," he
said.
A resident of the area, Shirin Mohammad, said she was awakened by the blast
and heard gunfire.
"We were sleeping and we woke from the blast and our windows were blown out,"
she said. "We were afraid to leave the house."
Smoke rose from the site of the blast on the west side of the Tigris River.
Firefighters and about 10 ambulances raced to the scene.
Kimmitt said the bomb might have consisted of a couple of artillery rounds
placed in the back of the vehicle, possibly in the trunk.
Saleem was in a convoy of five vehicles, and the car carrying the bomb was
adjacent to the council chief's car when it exploded, said witness Mohammed
Laith. Hospital officials said Saleem's driver and assistant were among those
killed.
Saleem was the second member of the Governing Council to be assassinated
since the group was established last July.
Aquila al-Hashimi, one of three women on the 25-member body, was mortally
wounded Sept. 20 when gunmen in a pickup truck ambushed her car as she drove
near her Baghdad home. She died five days later.
Meanwhile, fighting persisted the Shiite heartland in southern Iraq, where
American jets bombed militia positions in the city of Nasiriyah early Monday
after fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr drove Italian forces out
of a base there. Residents said seven fighters were killed in overnight battles.
An Italian soldier on Monday died of wounds suffered during an attack on the
base of the Carabinieri paramilitary police the day before in Nasiriyah, the
Defense Ministry in Rome said. The soldier was the 20th Italian to die in Iraq,
after a suicide truck bomb in Nasiriyah killed 19 on Nov. 12.
The Italian troops in Nasiriyah have been under attack for three days. At
least nine others were injured in the clashes with armed supporters of al-Sadr,
who launched an uprising against the coalition last month and faces an arrest
warrant in the killing of a rival moderate cleric last year.
Despite the overnight bombing, militiamen were in control of some government
buildings in Nasiriyah, and some people were taking advantage of the chaos to
loot cars, residents said.
The Italian troops evacuated their base on Sunday as it came under repeated
attack. Portuguese police were called out to support the Italians, their first
action since the force of 128 deployed to Nasiriyah in November, a Portuguese
duty officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Italians relocated to the nearby Tallil air base.
U.S. jets also bombed targets in Karbala, and there were clashes in the city,
witnesses said. The bodies of six militiamen were seen in the streets on Monday.
There were intermittent blasts and gunfire overnight in Najaf, another
southern city where al-Sadr supporters and American forces have fought in recent
days. The new U.S.-appointed governor of Najaf, Adnan al-Zurufi, said Monday
that unidentified assailants killed his uncle, Kadhim Abbas al-Zurufi.
Amid the ongoing violence, the United States is looking to move some of its
37,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea (news
- web
sites) to bolster forces in Iraq, South Korean and U.S. officials said.
"The U.S. government has told us that it needs to select some U.S. troops in
South Korea and send them to Iraq to cope with the worsening situation in Iraq,"
said Kim Sook, head of the South Korean Foreign Ministry's North American
Bureau.
A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said any
shift in troops from South Korea would be part of the next rotation of American
troops in Iraq, set to begin late this summer.
Tapping into the U.S. military force in Korea would be an historic move by
the Pentagon (news
- web
sites), underscoring the degree to which the military is stretched to
provide enough forces for Iraq while meeting its other commitments
The coalition is struggling to disband the cleric's army and sideline its
radical leadership before handing power to a new Iraqi government.
The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" |
