Baghdad Governor Assassinated

[Stravo]

Baghdad governor assassinated
Suicide truck bomb kills at least 10 near Green Zone
Tuesday, January 4, 2005 Posted: 8:55 AM EST (1355 GMT)


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The governor of Baghdad province was assassinated Tuesday morning in the Iraqi capital, an Iraq Interior Ministry official said.

A bodyguard for Gov. Ali Al-Haidri also was killed and two wounded in the road ambush, officials said.

Witnesses said they saw an intense gunbattle between the assassins and the governor's bodyguards.

Al-Haidri had survived an assassination attempt in September when attackers ambushed his convoy using a roadside bomb and firing machine guns, the Interior Ministry said.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking to reporters in Thailand on a tour of tsunami-stricken areas, said news of the assassination saddened him.

"It once again shows that there are these murderers and terrorists, former regime elements in Iraq, that don't want to see an election," Powell said. "They want to go back to the tyranny of the Saddam Hussein regime, and that's not going to happen. The Iraqi people don't want it to happen.

"The Iraqi interim government is determined to fight this insurgency, and you can be sure that the coalition will do everything it can to fight the insurgency so that the Iraqi people can have a successful election at the end of the month."

Iraq's elections are set for January 30.

Also Tuesday, a suicide truck bomb killed 10 people and wounded 60 others near Baghdad's Green Zone, the heavily fortified area where Iraqi government offices and the U.S. Embassy are based.

Eight of the dead were Iraqi police commandos and two civilians, an Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman said.

The explosion happened near an Iraqi Security Forces compound and a palace used by U.S.-led coalition forces, according to an Iraqi police spokesman.

The truck was a fuel tanker laden with explosives, the Interior Ministry spokesman said.

It was the second time in as many days that the Green Zone area was targeted by a bomb.

On Monday, a car bomb exploded at a checkpoint west of the Green Zone, hitting a three-vehicle civilian convoy.

Britain's Foreign Office confirmed that three Britons were among those killed in that attack.

Earlier Monday, a suicide car bomb attack near the political party headquarters of interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi killed at least two Iraqi police officers.

The militant group Jaish Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack, citing Iraq's January elections. The group has claimed responsibility for previous attacks in Iraq, including a December 21 bombing that killed 22 people at a U.S. base near the northern city of Mosul. (Full story)

Also Monday, a suicide bomb attack killed four Iraqi soldiers and wounded 14 other people at a checkpoint in Balad, north of Baghdad, a U.S. military spokesman said. Another bomb attack Monday wounded two U.S. soldiers riding in a humvee along a northern Baghdad road, the military said.

The attacks are the latest against Iraqi authorities, including soldiers, police and politicians, in advance of this month's elections. U.S. and Iraqi officials have warned insurgents would likely step up attacks in an attempt to derail the elections.

Iraqi voters are expected to choose a 275-member transitional national assembly. That body will put together a permanent constitution that will go before voters in a referendum. If the law is approved, the plan calls for elections for a permanent government.

Insurgent attacks have prompted calls from many Iraqis to delay the January vote. Iraq's interim government and the United States appear determined to leave the date unchanged.

Other developments

A U.S. Marine was killed in action Tuesday morning "while conducting security and stabilization operations" in the western province of al Anbar, the U.S. military said. The death brings the number of American troops killed in the Iraqi war to 1,335.


A surprisingly frank hourlong TV call-in program, "The Iraqi Podium," is giving Iraqis the chance to pepper Allawi, the interim prime minister, with questions, from the mundane to the serious. Judging by the show's popularity, Iraqis are taking advantage, The Associated Press reported. (Full story)

CNN's Arwa Damon, Auday Sadik and Mohammad Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

Expect more of the same as the elections draw closer.

[Chmee]

Expect more of the same as the elections draw closer.

And for an indefinite period after the elections ...

[brianeyci]

That's strange. According to this, six bodyguards died along with the Governor, not two. I saw a photo of the car, the interior was bloodied and it is hard to believe that anybody came out of that car alive. I believe the news described it as three cars that pulled alongside the Governor's armored BMW and opened fire. As well I heard that the fuckers had footage of the ambush within a few hours of the assassination.

This is a high level of co-ordination, how did they know where the Governor was travelling, how come the Governor's car was alone and not in some sort of convoy, and so on.

I guess they can't make bulletproof cars yet.

Brian

[Chmee]

This is a high level of co-ordination, how did they know where the Governor was travelling, how come the Governor's car was alone and not in some sort of convoy, and so on.

Pretty simple, the 'new' Iraqi security forces have been thoroughly infiltrated by the Sunni resistance since Day 1.

[kheegster]

You'll need balls of steels to run for office in that country...