Aquila al-Hashemi, a member of Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council, died on Thursday, five days after she was shot and critically injured by assailants, the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority reported.
Al-Hashemi died at about 11:30 a.m., said Gary Thatcher, coalition director of strategic communications. Al-Hashemi was severely wounded in the attack with gunshots to the abdomen.
She was ambushed by six men in a pickup truck while driving near her home in western Baghdad on Saturday. She was preparing to attend the United Nations General Assembly, which opened in New York on Tuesday.
Al-Hashemi had been cared for at a U.S. military hospital in the compound at Saddam Hussein's former Republican Palace in central Baghdad where the U.S.-led coalition has its headquarters, The AP reported.
Al-Hashemi, a Shiite Muslim, had been expected to become Iraq's new ambassador to the United Nations. She served in the Foreign Ministry during the Saddam Hussein period and was the only official of the toppled regime appointed to the 25-member Governing Council.
She had served as a key aide to former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and often traveled abroad with him as he represented Saddam's government. (Albawaba.com)
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