Iraqi council chief assassinated in suicide attack at Baghdad checkpoint

COALITION attempts to stabilise Iraq were dealt another major blow yesterday when the head of the Iraqi Governing Council was assassinated in a suicide car bombing near a checkpoint outside the coalition’s Baghdad headquarters. Abdel-Zahraa Othman, also known as Izzadine Saleem, was among eight Iraqis who died in the bombing, Iraqi officials said. Although not one of the better known of the council members, Mr Saleem was said to be playing a key role liaising with the United Nations ahead of the proposed handover of sovereignty to a new Iraqi government on 30 June. The United States military said a suicide bomber was responsible for the attack, which was claimed by a previously unknown group, the Arab Resistance Movement. One council member, Salama al-Khafaji, said the bombing appeared to be an effort to foment sectarian divisions in Iraq and disrupt the transfer of political power. The council selected Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, a Sunni Muslim civil engineer from the northern city of Mosul, to replace Mr Saleem. Mr Yawer will lead the council until 30 June. He said the council would continue "the march toward building a democratic, federal, plural and unified Iraq".