Saturday, March 24, 2007
Deputy PM's security detail detained after assassination attempt
Security, Politics
(AFP) - Iraq has detained guards of Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubayi for interrogation after the government's top Sunni Arab official was wounded in a bomb attack, an official said Saturday. Brigadier General Qassim Musawi, spokesman of a massive Baghdad security operation, told AFP that a full investigation had been launched into the suicide attack and car bombing that hit Zubayi on Friday.
He said the authorities had some "clues" that could lead them to the "criminals who carried out this attack." Dhafter al-Ani, a member of parliament for the National Concord Front, the main Sunni bloc to which Zubayi also belongs, said the suicide bomber came from the deputy prime minister's own security detail. "The suicide bomber was one of his bodyguards and he was recruited by the Islamic State of Iraq. he was not related to Zubayi," he told AFP.
A statement posted on the Internet in the name of the Islamic State, a Sunni insurgent coalition led by Al-Qaeda's Iraq branch, said it carried out Friday's twin bombing. Musawi, who visited Zubayi in a US military hospital, said the deputy premier had been admitted to intensive care but was now in a stable condition following surgery to remove shrapnel from his chest.
Zubayi, the most senior Sunni Arab in the Shiite-led government, was wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up while the deputy premier was praying at a mosque inside his residential compound. The suicide bomb attack was followed minutes later by a car bombing in the compound. The double attack killed nine people and wounded 15 others.
He said the authorities had some "clues" that could lead them to the "criminals who carried out this attack." Dhafter al-Ani, a member of parliament for the National Concord Front, the main Sunni bloc to which Zubayi also belongs, said the suicide bomber came from the deputy prime minister's own security detail. "The suicide bomber was one of his bodyguards and he was recruited by the Islamic State of Iraq. he was not related to Zubayi," he told AFP.
A statement posted on the Internet in the name of the Islamic State, a Sunni insurgent coalition led by Al-Qaeda's Iraq branch, said it carried out Friday's twin bombing. Musawi, who visited Zubayi in a US military hospital, said the deputy premier had been admitted to intensive care but was now in a stable condition following surgery to remove shrapnel from his chest.
Zubayi, the most senior Sunni Arab in the Shiite-led government, was wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up while the deputy premier was praying at a mosque inside his residential compound. The suicide bomb attack was followed minutes later by a car bombing in the compound. The double attack killed nine people and wounded 15 others.
COMMENT: Al-Zubayi has been part of an effort to convince the tribes to fight against the insurgents. The Islamic State of Iraq announced an assassination campaign some months ago, they even posted a list of targets. Recently there have been many assasssination attempts on key players, but if someone could get this close to a person in an official position of Al-Zubayi's then no-one is safe. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: assassination attempt, Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubayi, Islamic State of Iraq, security detail, suicide bomb
