Suicide bomber kills Iraqi Governing Council President

This is not original reporting. All information has been compiled from The Washington Post article "Iraqi Governing Council President Killed in Attack" by Scott Wilson and Sewell Chan.

The Iraqi Governing Council President was killed by a suicide bomber who set off an explosion outside headquarters of the U.S. led occupation authority in Baghdad on Monday, May 17. This attack has come only six weeks before the political handover of power in Iraq.

The blast killed seven Iraqis and injured five others. Two U.S. soldiers were also injured in the attack. According to The Washington Post, no other council members were near the blast. Iraqi Governing Council President Izzedine Salim has held office since May 1 and L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of Iraq, said that his death is a major blow to the future of Iraq.

Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the chief U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said that a vehicle packed with explosives drove up next to a convoy and set off the explosion. According to The Washington Post, Kimmit said that the U.S. currently believed the attack was by the order of Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian terrorist who claims to have ordered numerous suicide attacks against U.S. forces.

The original article can be found here.