Three people were killed in an assassination attempt on Grand Ayatollah Seyed Mohammed Said al-Hakim in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf, a leading Iraqi Shiite Muslim political group told AFP here.
The Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI) said the top Shiite cleric was slightly wounded in a blast near his office. Two of his bodyguards and a driver were killed.
Another nine people were wounded in the attack, it said.
AFP 24/08/2003 {ephemeral link}In a moving and personal tribute, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Saturday vowed to complete the work of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN envoy to Iraq killed in Tuesday's bomb blast.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called the Brazilian diplomat a national hero.
Annan and Lula were among the mourners who attended the wake for the global human rights champion in his native city of Rio de Janeiro.
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The envoy, who was also UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, was held in high regard and had been mentioned as a possible successor to Annan, who called him a �a dear friend.�
Jordan Times August 24, 2003{Vieira de Mello was possibly next in line for UN Secretary General. He got killed in Iraq, on the US watch. There is a profound lack of coverage. There is an equally profound lack of expressed regret. Possibly because his death is not as much of a problem as his living presence was.}
