| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Iraqi oil minister survives assassination attempt |
| 2005-10-04 |
| Iraqâs oil minister survived an apparent assassination attempt yesterday when a roadside bomb blasted his motorcade, the latest attack on the energy industry that is vital to rebuilding the countryâs beleaguered economy. As US forces hunted Al Qaeda guerrillas on Iraqâs border with Syria, the American military denied a claim by militants to have killed two captured US Marines. US troops also fought guerrillas closer to Baghdad, in the capital of the Anbar region that is home to many insurgents from Saddam Husseinâs once dominant Sunni Arab minority. At least five people were killed, said local doctors in the town, Ramadi. The bomb attack on Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr Al Uloumâs motorcade lent weight to fears expressed by Iraqi and US officials of more violence ahead of an October15 constitutional referendum. Many Sunnis argue that the charter will seal their fall from power and hand oil riches to majority Shiâites and ethnic Kurds. The apparent bid to assassinate the oil minister was the latest insurgent strike against an energy sector key to Iraqâs economic future. Exactly a week ago, a suicide bomber drove a car into a bus carrying Oil Ministry employees, killing at least six people. Along with a new constitution, a trial of Saddam Hussein is also intended by the new, US-backed government to bury Iraqâs past. The Special Tribunal trying the former president confirmed the court will first convene on October 19, but said it could be persuaded to adjourn. Saddamâs lawyers have demanded more time. Al Qaeda in Iraq, which claims many of the bloodiest attacks in Iraq, posted a statement on the Internet saying two US soldiers had been killed in the west after US forces failed to free women prisoners as demanded on Sunday by the group. The posting had no pictures and a US military spokesman dismissed it as âdisgusting propagandaâ. âWe have no reports of any deaths,â Lieutenant Colonel Steven Boylan said. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, rejected a call by his partyâs official spokesman for the Shiâite Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari to be sacked â although he said it was time to âcorrect some mistakes inside the governmentâ. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |