Iraq Council chief killed in suicide car bomb

THE head of the Iraqi Governing Council was assassinated in a suicide car bombing near a checkpoint outside the coalition headquarters in central Baghdad yesterday.

The attack dealt a major blow to US efforts to stabilise Iraq ahead of a hand-over of sovereignty on June 30.

Abdel-Zahraa Othman, also known as Izzadine Saleem, was the second and highest-ranking member of the US appointed council to be killed. He was among nine Iraqis, including the bomber, who died in the bombing, Iraqi officials said.