The deputy governor of Baghdad was shot dead on his way to work on Monday, in the latest attack by insurgents against the United States-backed Iraqi regime.
Hatim Kamil was killed when gunmen opened fire on his car in the southern Doura neighbourhood, an interior ministry spokesperson said. Two of his bodyguards were wounded in the attack.
In the town of Baquba, north-east of Baghdad, meanwhile, unknown gunmen killed retired republican guard lieutenant-colonel Athir al-Khazraji.
There was no firm word on the motive for either murder, but insurgents have assassinated many officials seen to be cooperating with US-led forces in Iraq, while revenge killings against former Saddam Hussein loyalists are also common.
The shootings came as Iraq’s interim prime minister Ayad Allawi warned that time is running out for a peace settlement in the insurgent stronghold of Falluja.
Allawi said that efforts to resolve the stand-off have entered their ”final phase” and that his patience is running short before launching ”a military solution”.
He warned of civilian casualties, saying that if he orders an assault it would be with a ”heavy heart,” because ”there will be some loss of innocent lives”.
But, he added: ”I owe it to the Iraqi people to defend them from the violence and the terrorists and insurgents.”
The deployment of a fresh brigade of US troops in Baghdad has pushed the total US military presence in Iraq to around 142 000 — the highest level since the summer of 2003 — as planners prepare for an expected all-out assault on Falluja ahead of impending national elections.
The arrival of the 256th Enhanced Separate Brigade, a national guard unit, was supposed to have been timed to coincide with the departure of the 1st Cavalry’s 2nd Brigade, which was scheduled to prepare to return to Fort Hood, Texas, this month. But the Pentagon delayed the 2nd Brigade’s departure by two months.
US officials say the final order for an all-out attack on Falluja will come from Allawi. Commanders have estimated that up to 5 000 Islamic militants, Saddam Hussein loyalists and common criminals are holed up there.
Elsewhere, one US marine was killed and four others wounded when a bomb exploded in the central Iraqi city of Ramadi, the military said on Monday. US forces have been clashing with insurgents for weeks in Ramadi, a stronghold of Sunni Muslim insurgents about 110km west of Baghdad. – Guardian Unlimited Â