04/01/2005

Baghdad Governor assassinated as violence escalates

The Baghdad Governor has been assassinated in the Iraqi capital as the violence in the country continues to increase in the run-up to the January 30 elections.

Ali al Haidri was travelling on the road between the western districts of Hurriyah and Adil, when a car drove up alongside his vehicle and opened fire, killing both Mr Haidari and his bodyguard.

Mr Haidari, who survived a previous assassination attempt in September, is the most senior official to be murdered in Baghdad since the head of the Governing Council was killed in a suicide bomb attack last May.

A bomb has also exploded at a special Iraqi forces command post in western Baghdad, killing 10 people, including eight policemen and wounding a further 56 people. The explosion occurred close to the Green Zone, which is home to the US embassy and the interim Iraqi government offices.

The latest attacks follow the killing of four people, three Britons and one American, killed in a suicide car bomb attack at a US-manned checkpoint to the Green Zone in the centre of the city.

The three British citizens, two of whom were working as private security guards for US firm, Kroll, were travelling with a convoy from Baghdad International Airport. They were stopped at the checkpoint when the suicide bomber drove up to their vehicle and detonated a bomb.

(KMcA/SP)

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