Iraq oil security chief killed

2004-06-16 08:01

Kirkuk - Ghazi Talabani, the security chief for Iraq's oil fields around the northern city of Kirkuk, was assassinated on Wednesday outside his home, Iraqi police said.

"Ten minutes ago, he was attacked by armed men outside his home near the governorate building. He died instantly" said Kirkuk police chief General Turhan Yussef.

"One of his bodyguards was seriously wounded."

Talabani, a member of Kurdish political chieftain Jalal Talabani's clan, headed security for the Northern Oil Company (NOC), which presides over oil production in northern Iraq.

The security's chief body was riddled with bullets and delivered to the morgue.

The killing was the third major assassination since Sunday when the country's deputy foreign minister was shot dead on his way to work in Baghdad, followed the next day by the murder of an education ministry official.

Talabani was the key link between US forces and NOC and the private security firm Erinys as they tried to shield Iraq's northern fields from attacks.

It was a largely futile battle as constant sabotage on the north's main export line from Kirkuk to the Turkish Mediterranean terminal of Ceyhan had effectively shut down the route since the fall of president Saddam Hussein in April 2003.

Talabani, 54, who studied in Germany and formerly worked as an engineer for NOC, was charged with the company's security dossier after Saddam was ousted from power. He was very close to his powerful cousin Jalal.

Insurgents have unleashed a torrent of violence since the country's new interim government was introduced on June 1, with at least 149 people killed and 19 car bombs set off.

The anti-coalition forces have also intensified their attacks on the country's infrastructure, carrying out five oil pipeline bombings.

Insurgents shut down the nation's oil exports from its main outlet by the southern port of Basra on Tuesday after blowing up a pipeline to the area's two harbour terminals.

- AFP