The US governor of Iraq said today that the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis must go ahead as scheduled despite the killing of the head of the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council in a suicide bombing.
The US governer of Iraq, Mr Paul Bremer
"The terrorists are trying to stop Iraq's march to sovereignty and peace," Mr Paul Bremer said at a memorial service for Izzadine Saleem, who was killed yesterday as his car waited at a checkpoint near coalition headquarters.
"They will not succeed. We must continue the political process leading to an interim government next month and to elections next year."
Saleem's family and members the Governing Council attended the ceremony inside the so-called Green Zone, which houses the coalition headquarters. Iraqi security forces in desert camouflage carried Saleem's coffin, which was draped with the Iraqi flag, from the hall after the service.
Mr Bremer and other dignitaries, including new Governing Council chief Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, kissed and shook hands with Saleem's grieving relatives.
"The enemies of freedom have taken him from his countrymen, from his family and from his friends, and although his loss is greatest for his family and for his country, those of us in the coalition shall miss him as well," Mr Bremer said.
UN envoy Mr Lakhdar Brahimi, who is consulting council members and other Iraqis about the makeup of the interim government that will take office after the power handover on June 30th, was also at the ceremony. "We're all working together in order to rebuild Iraq, which he sacrificed his life for," he said.
The killing was a major setback to US efforts to stabilise Iraq just six weeks before the handover of sovereignty.
Saleem, also known as Abdel-Zahraa Othman, was waiting in a Governing Council convoy at a US checkpoint along a tree-lined street preparing to enter the Green Zone when the bomb was detonated. It apparently had been rigged with artillery shells and hidden inside a red Volkswagen.
Iraqi officials said nine people, including the bomber, were killed and 14 Iraqis and an Egyptian were wounded in the attack.
Also yesterday, the US military said that soldiers found a roadside bomb containing sarin nerve agent in Baghdad. The device, which partially detonated, was apparently a leftover from Saddam's arsenals. It was unclear whether more such weapons were in the hands of insurgents.