Ministry's most senior career diplomat ambushed Saturday
A security officer at the foreign ministry in Baghdad walks past the bullet riddled car of deputy foreign minister Bassam Salih Kubba in which he was assassinated Saturday.
(Associated Press/MSNBC)
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen killed a deputy foreign minister as he went to work Saturday, the latest attack on Iraqi leaders in recent weeks.
Bassam Salih Kubba, Iraq's most senior career diplomat, was mortally wounded in Baghdad's Azimiyah district, Foreign Ministry spokesman Thamir al-Adhami said. The attack took place in a Sunni Muslim neighborhood where support for Saddam Hussein was strong.
The attack was the second assassination of a senior Iraqi figure in the past month. The head of the now-disbanded Iraqi Governing Council, Izzadine Saleem, was killed in a suicide car-bombing May 17 at an entrance to the heavily guarded Green Zone headquarters of the U.S.-run occupation authority.
Another Governing Council member, Salama al-Khafaji, escaped injury in a May 27 ambush south of Baghdad but her son and chief bodyguard were killed. Council member Aquila al-Hashemi, also a career diplomat, was assassinated last September.
U.S. officials had feared a major surge of violence in the run-up to the power transfer and although those predictions have so far not panned out, attacks on infrastructure and security installations suggest a campaign to undermine public confidence in the new Iraqi leadership.
According to the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Kubba and his driver were headed for his office when gunmen drove up behind him and opened fire. The assailants then passed the stricken vehicle and fired a second burst, the spokesman said.
Both Kubba and his driver were wounded, and the deputy minister died later in hospital, the spokesman said.
Kubba, 60, held a Master's degree in international relations from St. John's University in New York, was one of several deputy foreign ministers. He had served as acting chief the Iraqi mission to the United Nations in New York and as Iraq's ambassador to China. Kubba also served on the committee which ran the ministry after the fall of Saddam's regime.
A security officer at the foreign ministry in Baghdad walks past the bullet riddled car of deputy foreign minister Bassam Salih Kubba in which he was assassinated Saturday.
(Associated Press/MSNBC)
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen killed a deputy foreign minister as he went to work Saturday, the latest attack on Iraqi leaders in recent weeks.
Bassam Salih Kubba, Iraq's most senior career diplomat, was mortally wounded in Baghdad's Azimiyah district, Foreign Ministry spokesman Thamir al-Adhami said. The attack took place in a Sunni Muslim neighborhood where support for Saddam Hussein was strong.
The attack was the second assassination of a senior Iraqi figure in the past month. The head of the now-disbanded Iraqi Governing Council, Izzadine Saleem, was killed in a suicide car-bombing May 17 at an entrance to the heavily guarded Green Zone headquarters of the U.S.-run occupation authority.
Another Governing Council member, Salama al-Khafaji, escaped injury in a May 27 ambush south of Baghdad but her son and chief bodyguard were killed. Council member Aquila al-Hashemi, also a career diplomat, was assassinated last September.
U.S. officials had feared a major surge of violence in the run-up to the power transfer and although those predictions have so far not panned out, attacks on infrastructure and security installations suggest a campaign to undermine public confidence in the new Iraqi leadership.
According to the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Kubba and his driver were headed for his office when gunmen drove up behind him and opened fire. The assailants then passed the stricken vehicle and fired a second burst, the spokesman said.
Both Kubba and his driver were wounded, and the deputy minister died later in hospital, the spokesman said.
Kubba, 60, held a Master's degree in international relations from St. John's University in New York, was one of several deputy foreign ministers. He had served as acting chief the Iraqi mission to the United Nations in New York and as Iraq's ambassador to China. Kubba also served on the committee which ran the ministry after the fall of Saddam's regime.
