Thursday

Iraqi woman MP shot dead in Baghdad

4/27/2005 3:12:00 PM GMT

Unknown gunmen shot dead an Iraqi woman MP on the doorstep of her home in eastern Baghdad on Wednesday, an interior ministry official said.

"Armed men knocked at her door and when she answered, they shot her," the official said.

Lamiya Abed Khadawi was a member of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s coalition.

family member holds the id card of woman shotShe was attacked shortly after she returned home following a meeting of the National Assembly in Baghdad.

The attackers escaped right after they killed her.

Khadawi is the first parliament member to be killed in Iraq since the January 30 elections. She was among 90 other women elected to Iraq’s National Assembly.

Allawi himself escaped an assassination attempt last Wednesday when a car bomb exploded at his convoy.

Unlike many members of Iraq's National Assembly, Khadawi did not employ bodyguards, depending mainly on her sons for protection.

The attack came as pressure mounted on Iraqi newly sworn-in leaders to end weeks of political deadlock and form a new government.

Prime minister-designate Ibrahim al-Jaafari was expected to present his proposed list of ministers to the presidential council for approval. If passed, the candidates still need a majority vote from the National Assembly.

Parliament members met for several hours on Wednesday but it remained unclear whether they will vote on the cabinet list.

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