Iraqi Deputy Premier Wounded In Baghdad Blast

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zawba'i (file photo) (epa) March 23, 2007 -- Iraq's deputy prime minister is reportedly in surgery after being wounded in a suicide bombing in Baghdad.

U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver confirmed that Salam al-Zawba'i had been taken to a U.S.-run hospital, but declined to comment on his condition.


Iraqi military spokesman Brigadier General Qasim al-Musawi says al-Zawba'i is in an "unstable condition."


Police said the bomber blew himself up while al-Zawba'i was at a mosque in the courtyard of his Baghdad home and that a car bomb nearby exploded at about the same time.


The attack is reported to have killed at least two people.


Al-Zawba'i, a Sunni, is one of two deputy prime ministers in the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.


The attack came one day after a rocket landed meters from the building where al-Maliki was holding a news conference with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.


(AFP, AP, Reuters)

RFE/RL Iraq Report

RFE/RL Iraq Report


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