Car Bomb Kills Iraqi Governing Council Head

Ezzedine Salim was killed when a booby-trapped car ripped through his convoy while traveling near Al-Harithia district, killing his body guard, four Iraqis and at least two U.S. soldiers, and injuring up to nine others, Aljazeera satellite channel reported.

The Doha-based satellite channel said that Iraqi councilor Mahmmoud Othman confirmed the death of Salim, but no official statement has been released yet from the 25-member council.

Hamid Al-Bayati, spokesman for the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRII), also confirmed the news.

"He was in a convoy that stopped at the entrance to the Green Zone when the explosion happened. Ezzedine Salim was killed in the explosion," he told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Between three and six people were killed in the blast at a checkpoint of the protected Green Zone containing the headquarters of the U.S.-led ‘coalition’ in Iraq, a senior military coalition official said earlier according to AFP.

U.S. occupation troops cordoned off the area as fire engines and ambulances raced to the scene and U.S. helicopters flew overhead.

Smoke was seen rising after the explosion at about 9:30 am (0530 GMT) and followed a shuddering car bombing at a checkpoint of the heavily protected Green Zone that holds the headquarters of the U.S.-led occupation troops.

Earlier reports said that Salim was seriously wounded in the attack and was taken to the hospital in the immediate vicinity.

Salim, or Abdul Zahra Othman Al-Hajaj, assumed the rotating presidency of the council only few weeks ago from his predecessor Massoud Al-Barazani.

The Basra-born Shiite leader was an active member of the Al-Dawa Islamia Party.

He spent four years in jail from 1974 to ’78 under the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein.

In September 2003, Akila Al-Hashimi, a woman member of the council, was shot dead and died of her wounds, becoming the first Iraqi councilor killed after the U.S. occupation troops rolled into Baghdad on April 9, 2003.