The head of the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council was killed in a suicide car bomb blast Monday amid continuing violence that has rocked US attempts for a smooth handover of power to Iraqis next month.
The car carrying Ezzedine Salim caught the full force of the explosion that left 10 people dead, eight wounded and several cars ablaze outside the high-security US-led coalition headquarters in Baghdad.
He was the second member of the US-appointed governing council to be killed but top US and Iraqi officials insisted that Iraq was still "on track" to the handover of sovereignty on June 30.
"Days like today, rather than derailing that process, actually affirm the wisdom and the prudence of that transfer of authority," US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of operations, told CNN television.
The bombing came after at least 14 people were killed during fierce fighting in several cities overnight between coalition troops and fighters loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr.
Salim was in a four-car convoy that had stopped at a checkpoint on his way into the Green Zone, the sprawling headquarters of the US-led coalition in Iraq.
Kimmitt confimed it was a suicide bombing and said the blast was probably caused by artillery rounds in the boot of the car.
The blast just before 10 am (0600 GMT) left a one metre (three feet) deep crater in the road and set alight a number of cars, according to witnesses.
"Smoke engulfed the area and I saw a car on fire," said dentist Hayder Ahmed, who lived nearby. "I saw at least ten bodies covered by blankets and there was a strong smell of burnt flesh."
The area, some 200 metres from a checkpoint at an entrance to the strongly-protected Green Zone surrounding the coalition headquarters, was crowded with Iraqi workers, according to witnesses.
Salim's death drew immediate condemnation from fellow members of the governing council, the United States and its coalition allies.
US overseer for Iraq Paul Bremer described the bombing as a vile act but vowed to defeat those responsible. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
"The terrorists who are seeking to destroy Iraq have struck a cruel blow with this vile act today. But they will be defeated," he said in a statement.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said his killers were the "enemies of the Iraqi people" and Iraq's interim foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari said that the killing "will strengthen our resolve" to regain sovereignty.
"I am very saddened by this but it will strengthen our resolve. We are determined to push the process (of sovereignty) forward," Zebari said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Jordan.
Professor Khaled Salah, the head of surgery at the Yarmouk hospital, said that Salim died after he arrived at hospital.
"He was injured in the head, the chest and the legs," he said, adding that three of his assistants were also fatally injured when they arrived.
Salim, a Shiite Muslim who heads the Islamic Dawa movement in the southern city of Basra, took over on May 1 for a month's tenure as the head of the US-appointed governing council.
Also known as Abdel Zahra Osman Mohammed, he was the second council member to be killed since it started operations. Akila Hashemi was shot and killed at her home last September.
The Governing Council has been fiercely criticised by insurgents fighting coalition troops who accuse it of collaborating with the US-led occupation. Its members are surrounded by tight security.
The killing came some six weeks before the governing council was due to be abolished, but many of its members have been lobbying to join the incoming interim government which is taking shape despite the ongoing violence.
A 30-strong transitional government will take over running the country from June 30 but its make-up is yet to be confirmed. Salim was not expected to play a leading role after the handover of power.
Meanwhile, nine Iraqis were killed and 14 others were injured during almost six hours of clashes overnight between Sadr's militiamen and Italian troops in the southern city of Nasiriyah.
An Italian soldier also died of his injuries from earlier clashes in the city when coalition troops were forced to temporarily abandon a position on one of the main bridges in the city.
Another five fighters were killed and 32 injured during fighting overnight with US troops in the holy city of Karbala.
Late Sunday three mortar rounds struck the east Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City where US forces are pitted against the cleric's private militia, the US military said.
And a local police chief was killed near the southern city of Amara where British troops clashed with Shiite militiamen last week, after feuding with the governor, tribal sources said.
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