Iraqi Military: Green Zone Bombing Probably Targeted Maliki

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.

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Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.