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Plot to kill Hakim thwarted
Iraqi forces foiled a plot to mount an attack with gunmen and suicide bombers against a senior Shiite Islamist leader coinciding with the release of election results, a senior Iraqi military source said on Friday.Speaking hours before results were issued showing continued domination by the Shiite Islamist Alliance, the source said several suspects had confessed to a role in a plot by Sunni Arab rebels to attack the Baghdad headquarters of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a key figure in the Alliance. "About 50 people, including several suicide bombers, were going to take part in the attack just as the election results were being announced," the source said, showing Reuters official documents to support his statement. A political source said he was aware of a threat warning and said operations against the plotters were still continuing. Such a mass assault on a heavily guarded political compound would be unusual, although US military commanders have warned of such a threat after large-scale frontal attacks on Iraqi police and army bases over the past year or so. The military source said the plotters had received training in Hawija near Kirkuk in the north and were counting on back-up from other groups in towns north and east of Baghdad. Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-01-21 |
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