Head of Iraqi Governing Council Killed in Bombing

Head of Iraqi Governing Council Killed in Bombing. May. 17, 2004 21:41. by Sung-Won Joo swon@donga.com.

Ezzedine Salim, the head of the Iraqi Governing Council, was killed in a suicide car bombing presumably by a terrorist near the U.S.-led coalition headquarters in central Baghdad on Monday.

According to a spokesman of the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCRI), Hamid al-Bayati, the bombing took place when the vehicle which Salim was riding was halted at a coalition forces’ checkpoint. About 10 people, including Salim and two U.S. soldiers, died in this bombing and six were injured.

This was the second assassination of a council member since the group was established in Iraq last July. Aquila al-Hashimi, a council member, died last September after being shot by a suspicious man.

Currently, the position of Iraqi Governing Council head rotates monthly, and Salim had taken the position of council head since May 1.

Salim led the “Islamic Dawa Movement,” a political movement in the southern city of Basra, Iraq. He was not only a politician but also a philosopher, writer, and an active member of the press.