Hit on Iraqi Official Seen As Inside Job (AP)

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Hit on Iraqi Official Seen As Inside Job

By STEVEN R. HURST and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
The Associated Press
Sunday, March 25, 2007; 4:45 PM

BAGHDAD -- The suicide attack against Iraq's Sunni deputy
prime minister is now seen as an inside job carried out by a
member of his own security detail _ a distant relative who had
been arrested as an insurgent, freed at the official's request,
then hired as a bodyguard, a senior security official and an
aide to the victim told The Associated Press on Sunday.

The assassination attempt, at least the third major security
breach involving a top politician in four months, prompted
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to order a government-wide
security shake up, including plans to hire a foreign company
to guard the Green Zone building where parliament meets,
the security official said on condition of anonymity because
he was not authorized to speak with reporters.

-snip-

Sami al-Askari, a top aide to al-Maliki, said al-Saadi had
been arrested in the past on suspicion of insurgent activities
but that al-Zubaie successfully lobbied for his release and
then made him a part of his security detail, most likely
because of their family relationship. The security official
and al-Zubaie's aide confirmed those details.

-snip-

The attack on al-Zubaie, who is now said to be out of danger
after surgery in the U.S.-run military hospital in the Green
Zone, was the third major security breakdown involving key
members of the government or parliament since Nov. 21.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/25/AR2007032500711.html