Bomb kills head of Iraq Governing Council

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The head of the Iraqi Governing Council was killed today in a suicide car bombing near a checkpoint outside the coalition headquarters in central Baghdad, dealing a blow to U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq ahead of a handover of sovereignty on June 30.

A roadside bomb containing sarin nerve agent also exploded recently near a U.S. military convoy in Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt confirmed Monday, saying two explosives experts were treated for “minor exposure” but no other casualties were reported.

Kimmitt said he believed it was the first case in which U.S. forces had found an artillery shell containing sarin.

Abdel-Zahraa Othman, also known as Izzadine Saleem, was the second and highest-ranking member of the U.S.-appointed council to be assassinated. He was among nine Iraqis, including the bomber, who were killed, Iraqi officials said.

A suicide bomber was responsible, the military said.

A previously unknown group, the Arab Resistance Movement, claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying in a Web site posting that two of its fighters carried out the operation against “the traitor and mercenary” Saleem.

The car bomb had the “classic” hallmarks of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Kimmitt said, but he acknowledged that the claim of responsibility meant that U.S. authorities will have to investigate further before determing responsibility.

Al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born militant with links to al-Qaida, is believed responsible for many of the vehicle bombs in recent months and for the death of U.S. civilian Nicholas Berg, whose decapitation was videotaped and posted on the Web last week.

L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of Iraq, called Saleem’s killing a “shocking and tragic loss.”

“The terrorists who are seeking to destroy Iraq have struck a cruel blow with this vile act today,” he said. “But they will be defeated … The Iraqi people will ensure that his vision of a democratic, free and prosperous Iraq will become a reality.”

The council president’s position rotates monthly. Saleem’s death occurred about six weeks before the United States plans to transfer power to Iraqis and underscores the risks facing those perceived as owing their positions to the Americans.

The sarin explosion was confirmed by the Iraqi Survey Group, a U.S. organization whose task was to search for weapons of mass destruction after the ouster of Saddam Hussein in last year’s invasion.

Th sarin was inside an artillery shell that had been rigged as a bomb. It was discovered by a U.S. convoy and exploded before it could be defused.

The explosion released a very small amount of sarin, Kimmitt said. The incident occurred “a couple of days ago,” he said.

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