Transfer of power is at risk

A new council president has been selected.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The head of the Iraqi Governing Council was killed in a suicide car bombing near a checkpoint outside the coalition headquarters in central Baghdad today, dealing a blow to U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq ahead of a hand over of sovereignty June 30.
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.
"Days like today convince us even more so that the transfer must stay on track," said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, speaking on CNN.
Kimmitt said that terrorist groups were trying to derail the democratization process in Iraq and that a suicide bomber was responsible.
As the current council president, a rotating position, Saleem was the highest-ranking Iraqi official killed during the occupation. His 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.
No deterrent
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Saleem's death should not deter the transfer of power.
"What this shows is that the terrorists and insurgents in Iraq are trying to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power from the occupiers to the Iraqi people, and these terrorists are enemies of the Iraqi people themselves," Straw said in Brussels, Belgium, upon arrival at a European Union foreign ministers meeting. The ministers planned to discuss the latest developments in Iraq.
Saleem, the name he went by most frequently, was a Shiite and a leader of the Islamic Dawa Movement in the southern city of Basra. He was a writer, philosopher and political activist who served as editor of several newspapers and magazines. The position of council head rotates monthly.
In a statement, L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of Iraq, called the 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."
Members' response
One Governing Council member, Salama al-Khafaji, said the bombing appeared to be an effort to foment sectarian divisions in Iraq and disrupt the transfer of political power.
Another member, Naseer Kamel al-Chaderchi, blamed the bombing on the same groups that have conducted other attacks, including a bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad last year that killed 22 people, including U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.
The council said it selected Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, a Sunni Muslim civil engineer from the northern city of Mosul, to replace Saleem. Al-Yawer will serve as head of the U.S.-appointed council until the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30.
Two U.S. soldiers were also slightly injured in the bombing near the coalition headquarters, which is called the Green Zone, Kimmitt said. Three cars waiting in line at the headquarters were destroyed.
Meanwhile, fighting persisted in the Shiite heartland in southern Iraq, where American jets bombed militia positions in the city of Nasiriyah early today after fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr drove Italian forces out of a base there a day earlier. Residents said seven fighters were killed in overnight battles.
An Italian soldier died today of wounds suffered during an attack on the base of the Carabinieri paramilitary police the day before in Nasiriyah, the Defense Ministry in Rome said. The soldier was the 20th Italian to die in Iraq, after a suicide truck bomb in Nasiriyah killed 19 on Nov. 12.
Prison abuse
Meanwhile, a suspended Army officer in Iraq wrote to Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., that he was being unfairly punished after "pictures of naked prisoners" were discovered. He sent the letter six weeks before the CBS program "60 Minutes II" first broadcast photographs of the prisoners' sexual humiliation on April 28.
On March 18, Lt. Col. Jerry Phillabaum, formerly second-in-command at Abu Ghraib, wrote an e-mail to Specter mentioning "digital pictures of naked prisoners," The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Saturday. At the time, Phillabaum had been suspended as commander of the 320th Military Police Battalion while Army investigators probed the alleged abuse. He has since been reprimanded and relieved of command.
In the letter, Phillabaum sought Specter's help in expediting the investigation so he could return to his family in Lansdale, Pa.
Specter's office released copies of its electronic correspondence with Phillabaum and his family last week. In a statement accompanying the e-mails, Specter's office said it paid little attention to the Abu Ghraib references because "Phillabaum stated an investigation was under way," the Inquirer reported.
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