Report: Chalabi survives assassination attempt

Ahmed Chalabi was responsible for many of the false reports fed to Washington of Saddam's WMDs and connections to al-Qaeda. Once dubbed the "George Washington of Iraq" by neocons, he fell out of favor over allegations of feeding American intelligence to Iran. Chalabi was convicted and sentenced in absentia for bank fraud by a Jordanian military tribunal. In his new post as head of a committee to build public support for the U.S.-Iraqi security operation, Chalabi reports directly to Prime Minister Maliki.

Baaquba, may 19, (VOI)- Head of Iraqi National Congress party Ahmed al-Chalabi on Saturday survived an attempt on his life when armed groups attacked him along with his protection force during his visit to Diala province, a police source said.

"Dr. Ahmed al-Chalabi, leader of the Iraqi National Congress, survived today an attempt on his life when he visited a village near Buhriz to evaluate the security situation in the area," the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

He added "upon arrival of Dr. Chalabi to the village, armed groups fired mortar shells onto the area while clashes broke out between Chalabi's protection force and unknown gunmen in the area, that continued for almost an hour."

The source said "Chalabi survived the attack unharmed and the clashes left no casualties among his protection force."

Buhriz district is part of Diala province, 57 km northeast of Baghdad.

From VOI