Shiite lawmaker escapes assassination attempt

A Shiite legislator escaped an assassination attempt today after a roadside bomb missed his convoy in downtown Baghdad, a day after the kidnapping of a Sunni legislator.

Iyad Jamal al-Din, a cleric from the secular Allawi List bloc of parliament, said the explosion just missed his convoy as he was leaving his house in Karradah to attend a legislative session.

“The explosion took place about 20 yards from the convoy. Nobody was hurt in the convoy, but there were some casualties among civilians,” he said.

Police Lt Thaer Mahmoud said three civilians were wounded in the attack.

It was the second attack against a member of parliament in as many days. Gunmen also seized a female Sunni legislator and seven of her bodyguards at a checkpoint in a Shiite area of the capital on Saturday.

Officials said Tayseer al-Mashhadani was travelling to Baghdad from her home in nearly Diyala province, a hotbed of sectarian violence, to attend today’s session. One of her bodyguards escaped.

Al-Mashhadani’s colleagues in the Iraqi Islamic Party, the largest Sunni political organization, blamed the ministers of interior and defence for failing to restore security in the capital. A party statement alleged that some of the kidnappers carried government-issue weapons.

The US Embassy in Baghdad condemned the kidnapping and called for the “immediate, safe release” of the politician and her staff.

“We note that Ms Mashhadani is an elected representative of the people of Iraq and that this act is repugnant to all who believe in the right of Iraqis to participate in their countrys democracy,” the embassy said.

Elsewhere in Baghdad, a roadside bomb killed Col Muthanna Faeq Abdul-Razzaq, the assistant commander of the Iraqi army’s seventh division, and wounded his driver, police said.