Posted on 05/17/2004 1:24:45 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The head of the Iraqi Governing Council was killed Monday in a car bombing near a U.S. checkpoint in central Baghdad, Iraqi officials said. The killing was the second of a member of the U.S.-appointed council since last year and dealt a blow to U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq ahead of a handover of sovereignty on June 30.
Abdel-Zahraa Othman, also known as Izzadine Saleem, 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.
As the current council president, a rotating position, he 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 on June 30 and underscores the risks facing those perceived as owing their positions to the Americans.
Saleem, the name he went by most frequently, was a Shiite and 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.
Six Iraqis and two U.S. soldiers were injured in the bombing near the coalition headquarters, which is called the Green Zone, U.S. Army Col. Mike Murray said. Three cars waiting in line to enter the headquarters were destroyed.
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.
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. He said Saleem's driver and assistant were among those killed.
Coalition officials said they could not confirm Saleem's death, but released a statement that read: "Due to unforeseen and tragic events, the football game scheduled for Monday afternoon between the coalition press officers and Iraqi media will be postponed until further notice."
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 Italian troops in Nasiriyah have been under attack for three days. At least nine others were injured in the clashes with armed supporters of the 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.
The soldier was the 20th Italian to die in Iraq, after a suicide truck bomb in Nasiriyah killed 19 on Nov. 12.
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.
Also in Nasiriyah, a convoy transporting the Italian official in charge of the city, Barbara Contini, came under attack Sunday as it neared the headquarters of the Coalition Provisional Authority, Perrone said. Two Italian paramilitary police were wounded.
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 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, underscoring the degree to which the military is stretched to provide enough forces for Iraq while meeting its other commitments
The coalition, which has fought al-Sadr's militiamen in Baghdad and several southern cities in the past week, is struggling to disband the cleric's army and sideline its radical leadership before handing power to a new Iraqi government.
Definitely not good. This has to affect the June 30 transition date. My question is if the Iraqis want autonomy and want us out, why would they take this action to set back the whole process? It doesn't make sense.
looks like there will be a full scale civil war, all revved up and rolling on "turn over" day.
Shall we let them all kill each other?
Can we get our guys out of the rough areas so the shia and the sunni can get the "blood" revenge out of their system for a few months?
Maybe they can pacify each other.
Then the kurds can take over.
This is very, very bad.
Life goes on. Freedom follows. The next head of the governing council steps up. Terrorists lose.
Yet another sorrow by Islamic fanatics who feverishly strive to duplicate this terror many times over throughout the world.
This isn't that big a setback. The governing council is not very popular in Iraq, and will be disbanded shortly after the turnover. Attacks like this will increase as 30 June approaches. The intent is to keep things so confused that no clear leader emerges as the turnover date arrives. That will allow various outlaw groups to have a better chance at jumping into whatever voids emerge. But the Iraqi people are starting to unify against violence. That doesn't mean they are for us or the governing council. It just means they are against those that perpetuate violence in their country. Blowing up members of the governing council certainly won't help the group responsible become more popular. In fact, it probably hurts them more than helps.
Bears repeating, with emphasis; nicely said.
I thought there isn't any council, and if there is, Chalabi is the head of it. I guess I've been watching too much network news. One thing's for sure ----I never heard of this guy.
That's because most of the hoodlums trying to destabilize the situation are not Iraqi, but Iranian, Syrian, Saudi, and from various other waystations across the dreck of Arabia Generis. If we succeed in Iraq, the power structure in Iran and Syria are in trouble and they know it - so they have a big incentive to make sure we don't succeed.
The Media is doing a pitiful job identifying the troublemakers.
Michael
I wonder how president kerry will end all of this? G@d did Bush have any idea at all of what he was getting un into?
If we are to continue to base our troops anywhere in Iraq, I hope they do it in the Kurdish areas. The Kurds are the only ones with any sense.
This may be the best suggestion yet.
The transition must continue on schedule in spite of the efforts to derail it.
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