Mr Grimsdale
05-17-2004, 05:14 AM
Baghdad blast kills Iraq leader (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3720161.stm)
The current head of Iraq's US-appointed Governing Council has been killed in a car bomb blast near the headquarters of the US-led coalition in Baghdad.
Ezzedine Salim was waiting to enter the compound when the bomb went off at 0530 GMT, killing him and several others.
It is not yet clear whether Mr Salim was the target of what US officials say was a suicide attack.
Iraq's interim foreign minister has vowed that the political process will not be derailed.
Enemies
The explosion happened at a checkpoint outside the green zone - the sealed-off area where the coalition headquarters is situated.
"It is our understanding that it was a suicide car bomb," US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt told reporters.
Mr Salim, a Shia and member of the Daawa Islamic Party, was a writer, philosopher and political activist.
He is the second member of the Governing Council to be killed since it was set up last July.
Aquila al-Hasimi, one of three women on the council, was shot dead last September.
Reacting to the news, Iraq's interim Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said: "This shows our enemies are still there and will do anything to intimidate Iraqis to derail the political process."
Mr Salim's death will "strengthen our resolve to continue the political process...This will not derail the process", Mr Zebari said.
International condemnation was also swift.
The killers of Ezzedine Salim are "enemies of the Iraqi people," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Monday in Brussels.
The bombing took place amid rising violence in Iraq as the United States prepares to transfer power to an Iraqi interim government 30 June.
Clashes
In southern Iraq, scene of fierce clashes in recent days, there was more fighting overnight as US and Italian forces battled Shia militiamen.
Nine Iraqis were killed in Nasiriya during clashes with Italian troops, hospital officials said.
The Italians were forced to withdraw to their main camp some 10km (six miles) outside the city.
"The situation is extremely unpredictable, we can't be sure what's going to happen from one minute to the next," a spokesman for the Italian military in the town told Reuters.
Defence officials in Rome confirmed that an Italian soldier had died from injuries sustained in the fighting.
Redeployment
In the holy city of Karbala, where US troops are pitted against fighters loyal to the radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, five Iraqis died and more than 30 were injured overnight, hospital sources said.
US military officials say an American soldier was killed and two injured in a gunbattle in a city south of Baghdad on Sunday.
They did not identify the city but said the soldiers were from the Task Force 1st Armoured Division which has been fighting forces loyal to Mr Sadr.
Amid the continuing violence, the US is planning to move some of its forces from South Korea to Iraq, South Korean officials say.
South Korea's foreign ministry said the two governments were currently discussing the details of such a move.
The British press is meanwhile quoting UK government sources as saying British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush are speeding up plans to withdraw troops from Iraq and hand over security roles to the Iraqis.
The current head of Iraq's US-appointed Governing Council has been killed in a car bomb blast near the headquarters of the US-led coalition in Baghdad.
Ezzedine Salim was waiting to enter the compound when the bomb went off at 0530 GMT, killing him and several others.
It is not yet clear whether Mr Salim was the target of what US officials say was a suicide attack.
Iraq's interim foreign minister has vowed that the political process will not be derailed.
Enemies
The explosion happened at a checkpoint outside the green zone - the sealed-off area where the coalition headquarters is situated.
"It is our understanding that it was a suicide car bomb," US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt told reporters.
Mr Salim, a Shia and member of the Daawa Islamic Party, was a writer, philosopher and political activist.
He is the second member of the Governing Council to be killed since it was set up last July.
Aquila al-Hasimi, one of three women on the council, was shot dead last September.
Reacting to the news, Iraq's interim Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said: "This shows our enemies are still there and will do anything to intimidate Iraqis to derail the political process."
Mr Salim's death will "strengthen our resolve to continue the political process...This will not derail the process", Mr Zebari said.
International condemnation was also swift.
The killers of Ezzedine Salim are "enemies of the Iraqi people," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Monday in Brussels.
The bombing took place amid rising violence in Iraq as the United States prepares to transfer power to an Iraqi interim government 30 June.
Clashes
In southern Iraq, scene of fierce clashes in recent days, there was more fighting overnight as US and Italian forces battled Shia militiamen.
Nine Iraqis were killed in Nasiriya during clashes with Italian troops, hospital officials said.
The Italians were forced to withdraw to their main camp some 10km (six miles) outside the city.
"The situation is extremely unpredictable, we can't be sure what's going to happen from one minute to the next," a spokesman for the Italian military in the town told Reuters.
Defence officials in Rome confirmed that an Italian soldier had died from injuries sustained in the fighting.
Redeployment
In the holy city of Karbala, where US troops are pitted against fighters loyal to the radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, five Iraqis died and more than 30 were injured overnight, hospital sources said.
US military officials say an American soldier was killed and two injured in a gunbattle in a city south of Baghdad on Sunday.
They did not identify the city but said the soldiers were from the Task Force 1st Armoured Division which has been fighting forces loyal to Mr Sadr.
Amid the continuing violence, the US is planning to move some of its forces from South Korea to Iraq, South Korean officials say.
South Korea's foreign ministry said the two governments were currently discussing the details of such a move.
The British press is meanwhile quoting UK government sources as saying British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush are speeding up plans to withdraw troops from Iraq and hand over security roles to the Iraqis.