Iraqi VP escapes bomb in Baghdad

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Source: CCTV.com | 02-27-2007 09:42

Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi (File Photo)

One of Iraq's Vice Presidents has escaped an apparent assassination attempt in Baghdad.

Adel Abdul Mahdi was giving a speech on Monday when a bomb inside a parked car suddenly exploded. He suffered bruises and was taken to a nearby hospital. At least ten people were killed in the blast.

Witnesses say the Vice President was knocked to the ground by the blast and was taken to the hospital to be examined. Abdul Mahdi, a Shi'ite who is one of Iraq's two Vice Presidents, was giving a speech when the explosion went off.

Employees of an Iraqi ministry receive treatment at Yarmouk hospital after they were wounded in a bomb attack in Baghdad February 26, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

A victim was wounded when an explosion ripped through the public works ministry in Baghdad February 26, 2007.A blast at an Iraqi ministry building killed six people and slightly wounded Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi during a ceremony on Monday, police and a senior political source said. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

At least 10 people were killed and 18 others wounded in the blast in the upscale Mansour neighborhood that houses many embassies.

The incident is one of several cases of increased violence, since US and Iraqi forces began stepping up security in Baghdad almost two weeks ago. Iraqi's other Vice President, Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni, has criticized the credibility of the new security plan.

Tariq al-Hashemi, said, "Up to now, legal procedures have not been observed. The human rights of Iraqis have not been respected as they should be. In this regard, this plan is being implemented in the same way the previous ones were."

In another violent incident on Monday, a mortar round landed in Nidhal Street, central Baghdad, killing one person and wounding two others. A suicide bombing also killed at least 41 people in Baghdad on Sunday.

Editor:Du Xiaodan