Iraq's deputy prime minister injured in suicide bomb attack

IRAQ: Iraqi deputy prime minister Salam al-Zobaie, a leading Sunni Arab politician, was wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself…

IRAQ:Iraqi deputy prime minister Salam al-Zobaie, a leading Sunni Arab politician, was wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a hall where he was attending prayers yesterday.

The attack came a day after a rocket landed yards from prime minister Nuri al-Maliki's home during a news conference with the United Nations' secretary general. One of two deputy prime ministers, Mr Zobaie is a member of the Accordance Front, the main Sunni Arab grouping in Iraq's Shi'ite-led government.

Mr Zobaie was the target of two co-ordinated attacks - the suicide bomber at a prayer hall in his residence and a car bomb outside. Officials said at least six members of his entourage were killed in the attack. Two of Mr Zobaie's brothers were among those wounded or killed.

A Sunni militant group with links to al-Qaeda later claimed responsibility for the attack.

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"He's wounded, but it's not serious," an official in Mr Maliki's office said after Mr Maliki visited Mr Zobaie in hospital in Baghdad.

The assassination attempt came as US president George Bush rejected pressure from the Democrat-led Congress to set a date for the US withdrawal from Iraq. Mr Bush threatened to veto legislation approved by the House of Representatives to impose a September, 2008 deadline for US troops to withdraw from Iraq, accusing Democrats of "an act of political theatre".

Democrats had attached the deadline to legislation authorising more than $124 billion (€93 billion) in emergency funds, mostly for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year.

In the south, forces from neighbouring Iran seized 15 British navy personnel, triggering a diplomatic crisis and pushing oil prices above $62 a barrel to a three-month high.

Britain said the incident took place in Iraqi waters, where it routinely boards merchant vessels with the UN's permission. The British foreign office has demanded the safe release of the personnel, but Iran has protested over what it said was the illegal entry of British naval personnel into its waters.

Five people were also killed and 20 wounded yesterday when a car bomb exploded in the Baghdad Shi'ite stronghold of Sadr City. - (Reuters)