The head of Iraq's US-appointed Governing Council was killed by a suicide car bomb at a checkpoint in Baghdad this morning. The assassination won't, however, delay a hand-over of power to an interim Iraqi government, the White House and Downing Street said.
Deputy Foreign Minister Hamed al-Bayati said Mr Abdul Zahra Othman Mohammad, also known as Izzedin Salim, had been waiting to enter the main US-led coalition compound in Baghdad when the car bomb exploded.
US troops at the scene said at least nine people were killed and many more injured in the attack at the checkpoint to enter the "Green Zone", a sprawling compound that used to be one of Saddam Hussein's palace complexes and is now the main coalition headquarters.
Saleem, the name he went by most frequently, was a Shia and leader of the Islamic Dawa Movement in the southern city of Basra.
He was a writer, philosopher and political activist, who served as editor of several newspapers and magazines.
He was in a convoy of five vehicles, and the car carrying the bomb was adjacent to the council chief's car when it exploded, witnesses said. His driver and assistant were among those killed.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair insisted that the transfer of sovereignty in Iraq would go ahead as planned on June 30th, despite the killing.
As he arrived in Turkey for a summit meeting, Mr Blair said: "This is an appalling act that we should all utterly condemn.
"Those who perpetrated it want to intimidate all those who are working for a democratic and prosperous Iraq - they will not succeed."
The White House also said the hand-over would not be put off. "That's what the enemies of freedom want and they will not prevail," said spokesman Mr Scott McClellan.
Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said the assassination would not derail the political process in the country. "This shows our enemies are still there and will do anything to intimidate Iraqis to derail the political process," he said. "But this will strengthen our resolve to continue the political process."
The US-led occupation administration of Iraq plans to hand over power to an interim Iraqi government on July 1st. Mr Paul Bremer, the US administrator of Iraq, called the killing a "shocking and tragic loss."
Saleem held the council presidency, which rotates monthly among a selected group of nine council members. He was the second member of the US-appointed Governing Council to be assassinated since the group was established last July.
Ms Aquila al-Hashimi, one of three women on the 25-member body, was seriously wounded on September 20th when gunmen in a pickup truck ambushed her car as she drove near her Baghdad home. She died five days later.
On May 6th, a suicide bomber killed five Iraqis and an American soldier at an entrance to the "Green Zone". A statement purporting to be from a group headed by leading al-Qaeda figure Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for that attack.
Earlier this morning an Italian soldier wounded in a mortar attack in Iraq yesterday died.
The corporal from a Venice-based regiment was injured on the third day of skirmishes between Italian troops and Shi'ite militia in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya. Fifteen other Italian soldiers were slightly injured in clashes with militia loyal to the cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
Meanwhile, a US soldier was shot dead and two others were wounded in a firefight near Baghdad last night.
The soldiers were from Task Force 1st Armored Division, which has been battling militiamen loyal to rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Shi'ite areas of central and southern Iraq.
Since the invasion of Iraq last year, at least 568 US soldiers have been killed in action in Iraq.
Agencies