Iraqi Police Arrest Suspected Killers Of Governing Council Member

Baghdad, 17 February 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Iraq's Deputy Interior Minister Ahmad Ibrahim said today Iraqi police have arrested five men in connection with the murder last year of Aqilah al-Hashimi, a female member of the U.S.-led Iraqi Governing Council (IGC).

Police said the men were arrested on 14 February.

Ibrahim described the suspects as former members of the Fedayeen paramilitary group of ousted President Saddam Hussein.

Al-Hashimi was shot as she stepped out of her home in Baghdad on 20 September 2003 and died five days later from her wounds. She was one of three female members appointed to the 25-seat IGC.