BBC
April 4, 2002
By the BBC's Hiwa Osman  
 
The head of the Iraqi Kurdish Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) regional government, Barham Salih, escaped an assassination attempt outside his house in Sulaymaniyah on Tuesday. 

Two gunmen opened fire at Mr Salih while he was leaving his house in the afternoon. 

His bodyguards returned fire and the shootout resulted in the killing of the two gunmen and five of the bodyguards. 

Two assailants and five bodyguards were killed in the gun battle
 
In an interview with BBC News Online after the incident, Mr Salih said that the assailants, who posed as taxi drivers of a red Volkswagen car were on "a suicide mission" and that their car was "full of bombs and grenades". 

Assailants killed 

He said that he was not accusing anybody "at this stage" but added: "We have obtained very useful leads about the identity of the assailants." 

He also said: "There are unconfirmed reports that there were three assailants, we are looking into this matter and investigation is underway." 

Salih refused to disclose any further information: "Because we do not want to jeopardise the outcome of the investigation." 

Barham Salih was representative for his party in Washington for almost 10 years before he became the Prime Minister of the PUK-led Kurdish regional government in Sulaymaniyah last year. 

The PUK has been in control of the Kurdish region together with the Kurdistan Democratic Party since 1991. 

In September 2001, a newly established Islamist group, Jund al-Islam, which is suspected of having links with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation, seized control of an area of the Kurdish region near the Iranian border. 

Trying to oust them from their area, the PUK entered into an armed conflict with the group. 

New Islamist group 

Jund al-Islam, alongside a number of other Islamist groups, has merged into a new group, Supporters of Islam. 

Despite a few negotiation rounds - with Iranian mediation - tension between the PUK and the Islamist group remains unsolved. 

Asked about the PUK's response to the attack, Mr Salih said: "I do not want to prejudge any course of action that we may take. When the investigation concludes, we will decide accordingly." 

"Terrorism is alien to our society," said Dr Salih. 

"But we will not be swayed foreign-inspired terrorists who seek to undermine the civil and democratic institutions that we are trying to build in Iraqi Kurdistan."