Paul Bremer, the US civilian administrator for Iraq, has said he was “shocked and saddened by the horrific and cowardly' assassination attempt on Governing Council member Aquila al-Hashimi.
The 25-member Governing Council, picked by Bremer two months ago, was designed to act as an interim government.
“This senseless attack is not just against the person of Aquila al-Hashimi. It is an attack against the people of Iraq and against the common goals we share for the establishment of a fully democratic government,” the Bremer statement said.