One of only three women on Iraq’s Governing Council died five days after her car was ambushed in an assassination attempt Saturday morning. The Governing Council issued a statement that Aqila Hashimi “fell as a martyr on the path of freedom and democracy to build this great nation.”
Hashimi suffered gunshot wounds to her abdomen and her leg. Her brother Zaid, who had been serving as one of her bodyguards, told the New York Times that she had received threats recently for collaborating with the US. Hashimi is a diplomat and a Shiite who is the only member of the current Governing Council who had served in Saddam Hussein’s government.
Other members of the Governing Council in Iraq have been pleading with US authorities to provide them with more security and bodyguards, including Dr. Raja Habib Khuzau. Dr. Khuzau was originally provided with bodyguards by the US but those were later taken away. Her only source of protection has been from her brother and three other men who have no training; she is paying them out of her own pocket. Hashimi had also been relying on family members to provide her with bodyguards.
LEARN MORE Read “Inside Iraq: Where Are the Women?” in the most recent issue of Ms. magazine
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