Speaking today in a press conference, Iraqi military spokesman Qassim al-Moussawi said that it is the belief of the military that the bombing in the Green Zone earlier this week probably was an assassination attempt against Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Moussawi added that the bomber managed to sneak into the Green Zone with 20 kg of explosives in his vehicle and tried to join a convoy of other vehicles heading toward parliament. He was stopped by guards, but detonated his car in the parking lot across the street. He said the car was supposed to explode when Maliki was scheduled to address parliament but went of prematurely.
Not everyone agrees with this assessment, however, and parliamentary spokesmen say they believe the attack targeted Osama al-Nujafi, the speaker of parliament.