Suicide blast hurts Iraq deputy PM

The bomber blew himself up as al-Zubayi, one of two deputies to Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, and other worshippers were leaving a mosque in the courtyard of his house, according to police.

 

Your Views

“There may be times when preemptive warfare is necessary, but the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was not one of them” Surfdog 1958, Baton Rouge, USA Send us your views

Five of al-Zubayi’s bodyguards were killed in the blast while Mufeed Abdul-Zahra, an advisor, was wounded in the attack and died later at the hospital.

 

The attack came a day after a rocket landed in the Green Zone as Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, and al-Maliki were holding a joint press conference.

 

Mahmud Othman, a Kurdish member of parliament, said Zubayi was al-Maliki’s deputy on a ministerial committee for security, which was enough to make him “an important target”.

 

But Imad Shahib, an Iraqi journalist, told Al Jazeera al-Zubayi was probably targeted simply “because he’s part of the government and everyone here in Iraq is targeted”.