Influential Iraqi lawmaker killed by roadside bomb

by Tina Kells | October 9, 2008 at 09:58 am

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A senior Iraqi lawmaker was killed by a roadside bomb blast in Baghdad, Thursday morning. Saleh al-Ageili, three bodyguards, and two civilian bystanders were killed when a bomb went off near the government motorcade. The incident is being called an assassination by Iraqi officials and Sadr Movement members.

Saleh al-Ageili was an influential member of Iraq's Sadr Movement, which is part of an important parliamentary bloc in Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki extended his condolences to al-Ageili's family and to supporters and members of the Sadr Movement, calling al-Ageili a "martyr."

Prime Minister al-Maliki has called for an investigation into the bombing in a search for proof of terrorist involvement. Sadr Movement officials are taking a different approach, blaming the assassination of al-Ageili on U.S. led occupational forces.

"We hold the occupation forces responsible for the assassination of Saleh al-Ageili because they are the ones who are in charge of the security control in the capital," Sadr Movement official Abdul-Mahdi al-Mutayri told CNN.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has ordered top government and military officials to lead the investigation "to determine the circumstances behind the terrorist operation that targeted the destabilization of security and the stability."

The investigation committee will be led by Interior Minister Jawad al-Bulani and senior Iraqi military officials, he said.

Al-Maliki also sent his condolences to the Sadr Movement and to the people of Iraq regarding the lawmaker's "martyrdom."

"We reaffirm that we are determined with the resolution of the loyal people of Iraq to detect the hotbeds of terrorism and crime, and prosecute and arrest the killers and bring them to justice," according to a statement from al-Maliki.

Al-Ageili was initially wounded in the attack, along with three of his bodyguards, but later died of his injuries at a hospital. The blast also left two bystanders dead.