An assassination attempt took place against Aquila al-Hashimi, a member of the Iraqi interim governing council, on 20 September. Her car was fired on by a group of unidentified gunmen as she drove away from her house in west Baghdad, causing her car to crash. Al-Hashimi was taken to Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad, and was later transferred to a US military hospital where she is being treated for stomach, leg and shoulder injuries. Three of her bodyguards were also injured in the incident.
The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) chief administrator Paul Bremer described the attack as horrific and cowardly. 'This senseless attack is not just against the person of Aquila al-Hashimi, it is an attack against the people of Iraq and against the common goals we share for the establishment of a fully democratic government,' he said in a statement.
Al-Hashimi, one of only three women on the US appointed council, is the only member to have served in the administration of former president Saddam Hussein, where she held a senior position in the Iraqi Foreign Affairs Ministry. Al-Hashimi had been expected to travel to New York for a meeting of the UN General Assembly on 24 September.
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