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Deputy Mayor of Baghdad Assassinated
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Unknown gunmen assassinated a deputy mayor of Baghdad in an apparent hit-run shooting, the U.S. occupation authority reported Tuesday.
Faris Abdul Razzaq al-Assam, deputy mayor for technical services, had returned from last week's international Iraq (news - web sites) donors' conference in Madrid, Spain, when he was shot Sunday, the Coalition Provisional Authority said.
Tom Basile, a CPA spokesman, said he had no details on the killing, other than that it occurred in Baghdad, and "we believe he was shot in a hit-and-run incident."
Basile said an official report on the assassination was delayed because the authority believed Baghdad city hall would issue the announcement Monday but it did not.
Al-Assam, one of three deputy mayors, had been a director-general in the infrastructure area in the previous municipal government, under the Baathist Party regime, and joined the new, postwar municipal leadership four months ago, the authority said.
"Faris was absolutely committed to the welfare of the citizens of Baghdad and the future of the city," Hank Bassford, the CPA's regional coordinator for Baghdad, said in a statement.
Basile said he had no information that any suspects had been apprehended in the killing.
Anti-U.S. resistance forces have assassinated or attempted to assassinate several political or police figures holding posts under the occupation. The most prominent was Aquila al-Hashimi, a member of Iraq's interim Governing Council, who was fatally wounded by gunmen on Sept. 20.
Faris Abdul Razzaq al-Assam, deputy mayor for technical services, had returned from last week's international Iraq (news - web sites) donors' conference in Madrid, Spain, when he was shot Sunday, the Coalition Provisional Authority said.
Tom Basile, a CPA spokesman, said he had no details on the killing, other than that it occurred in Baghdad, and "we believe he was shot in a hit-and-run incident."
Basile said an official report on the assassination was delayed because the authority believed Baghdad city hall would issue the announcement Monday but it did not.
Al-Assam, one of three deputy mayors, had been a director-general in the infrastructure area in the previous municipal government, under the Baathist Party regime, and joined the new, postwar municipal leadership four months ago, the authority said.
"Faris was absolutely committed to the welfare of the citizens of Baghdad and the future of the city," Hank Bassford, the CPA's regional coordinator for Baghdad, said in a statement.
Basile said he had no information that any suspects had been apprehended in the killing.
Anti-U.S. resistance forces have assassinated or attempted to assassinate several political or police figures holding posts under the occupation. The most prominent was Aquila al-Hashimi, a member of Iraq's interim Governing Council, who was fatally wounded by gunmen on Sept. 20.
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