A Iraqi woman MP has been shot dead by suspected insurgents on the doorstep of her home in Baghdad. Lamiya Abed Khadawi, a member of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's coalition, is the first MP killed since elections at the end of January. Police said gunmen knocked at her door and shot her when she answered it. | Bodyguards, people, bodyguards |
The attack came as the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, Gen Richard Myers, warned that Iraqi militants remain as strong as a year ago. Gen Myers said that between 50 and 60 attacks are carried out across Iraq each day, the same number as during 2004. A BBC correspondent at the Pentagon says US optimism in the wake of Iraq's elections has now disappeared. | Of course the BBC would say that |
The US has recently pressed Iraq's newly sworn-in leaders to end weeks of political deadlock with an official announcement of a new government. |