Attack On Iraqi Governing Council Member Kills Two

28 May 2004 -- A member of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council has survived an assault on her convoy yesterday, but her son and at least one bodyguard were reported killed in the ambush.
Governing Council member Salamah al-Khafaji's convoy came under fire in the town of Yusufiyah during the drive to Baghdad from Al-Najaf, where she had been helping negotiate an end to clashes between Shi'a Muslim militiamen and U.S. forces.

Reports said al-Khafaji's son died after the car he was riding in fell into a river.

Reports said at least one of Khafaji's bodyguards was killed and at least one other bodyguard injured.

The attack follows the assassination on 21 May of the head of the Governing Council, Abd al-Zahra Uthman Muhammad, also known as Izz al-Din Salim, in a car bombing in Baghdad.

Al-Khafaji is one of three women on the Governing Council. She replaced another Shi'ite woman member, Aquila al-Hashimi, who was killed in September.

(Reuters/AP/AFP)