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| Iraq |
| Iraqi police identify perpetrator of attempt on Al-Zobaie's life |
| 2007-03-24 |
| (KUNA) -- The Iraqi security agencies managed to identify the perpetrator of the attempt on Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zobaie's life Friday afternoon. Wahb Saadi, a cook and one of Al-Zobaie's companions, is the suicide bomber who targeted the Iraqi senior official with an explosive belt, the police sources said, while other sources identified Saadi as one of Al-Zobaie's bodyguards. While heading for the Friday noon prayers at a small mosque close to his house Al-Zobaie was targeted by insurgents using mortar shells, a car bomb and an explosive belt. The booby-trapped car, a blue Volkswagen, 1985 model, belonging to Saadi, went off at the garage of Al-Zobaie's home shortly after the first attack, KUNA quoted explosive experts as saying. Two mortar shells landed on the same site afterwards. Iraqi police sources put the death toll of the tripartite attack at eight, including Al-Zobeie's adviser for the Affairs of the south Mufid Abdul-Zahra. Twenty-two others including Al-Zobaie, his brother, his secretary and several of his companions were injured in the attack. Hit in the belly and the shoulder, the deputy prime minister is undergoing a surgery at Ibn Sina Hospital here. His medical condition is deemed serious, while the injuries of his brother and a third victim, are said to be life-threatening, according to medical sources. Meanwhile, reports accuse a senior cabinet official of involvement in the attack on the life of Al-Zobaie. Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki called on Al-Zobaie at the hospital and ordered the urgent setting up of a committee to investigate into the grave attack which was described as a flagrant breach of the security guards assigned to protect Al-Zobaie. Member of the Accordance Front, Al-Zobaie chairs the service committee, one of the major committees of the ongoing Law Enforcement Plan in Baghdad. |
| Posted by:Fred |