Authors: Gavin de Becker,Thomas A. Taylor,Jeff Marquart
395.
Date: October 6, 2003
Target: Parliament Member Maulana Azam Tariq
Location: Islamabad, Pakistan
Details: Gunmen in an SUV opened fire near a tollbooth on the car Tariq was riding in. Tariq, three bodyguards, and their driver were all killed.
396.
Date: October 26, 2003
Target: Deputy Mayor Faris Abdul Razaq al-Assam
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Details: Two gunmen, believed to be Baath Party loyalists, assassinated al-Assam, one of three deputy mayors of Baghdad. U.S. officials did not announce al-Assam's death until October 28.
397.
Date: November 20, 2003
Target: Consul General Roger Short
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Details: Two suicide truck bombings devastated the British HSBC Bank and the British Consulate General in Istanbul, killing Short and 26 others, and wounding at least 450. Officials blamed al-Qaeda terrorists.
398.
Date: February 12, 2004
Target: Justice Minister Roger Kusch
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Details: Kusch was attending a campaign event when a woman came up behind him, unfolded a pocketknife, and stabbed him in the thigh. Bystanders grabbed the woman and turned her over to police. Kusch was treated at a hospital for a minor injury.
399.
Date: March 19, 2004
Target: President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu
Location: Tainan, Taiwan
Details: Chen and Lu were riding in an open jeep during a campaign parade. People were setting off fireworks along the route to celebrate. Chen felt wetness on his stomach, and Lu felt pain in her right knee. Neither realized at first that they had been shot. There was also a bullet hole in the windshield of their vehicle. No arrests were made and both were treated at a local hospital. Police reportedly investigated 119 suspects, and named Chen Yi-hsiung as the most likely shooter. Shortly after the shooting, Chen Yi-hsiung committed suicide by drowning himself. Video footage taken before the shooting put Chen Yi-hsiung at the scene and an investigation of the weapon used traced it back to the suspect, who purchased the weapon shortly before the shooting. Papers left behind show the unemployed suspect was unhappy about the economy and the way the nation was being governed. One note reportedly stated, "I felt depressed. After Chen Shui-bian became the president, the economy turned bad and we could not sell our house." Another note said, "If Chen is reelected, I am old and cannot change anything." On videotapes, the suspect, a man in his late 50s wearing a yellow jacket, was seen walking in the street near the shooting scene. After the shooting, the suspect reportedly ran and then slowed to walk, and then walked quickly. Police interrogated Chen Yi-hsiung before he died because he bore similarities to the balding man in a yellow jacket. When the suspect was asked if he committed the attack, he reportedly replied, "I will deal with what I did." Police said the suspect likely drove his car into a river in Tainan on March 28 and his body was found on March 29.
400.
Date: April 12, 2004
Target: Businessman Boris Goldman
Location: Moscow, Russia
Details: Goldman, along with his driver, was in his armored Volvo S80 limousine stopped at a traffic light. A motorcycle pulled alongside and the cyclist placed a rucksack with a powerful bomb on the roof of Goldman's car. One of Goldman's bodyguards, in a separate car, jumped out and tried to tackle the cyclist. The cyclist set off the bomb, killing everyone in the car, as well as the bodyguard and himself. Goldman escaped a previous attempt on his life in October 2003 on the same street when a mine was placed under his Toyota jeep and it exploded, badly injuring his driver. Goldman was unhurt in that incident.
401.
Date: May 9, 2004
Target: President Akhmad Kadyrov
Location: Grozny, Russia
Details: As Kadyrov attended a Victory Day service, a bomb blast ripped through the VIP section where he was seated. Kadyrov was killed, along with two of his bodyguards and other high level members of his cabinet. At least 16 were killed and at least 56 were wounded. The bomb, constructed from two 152mm artillery shells, was buried in the concrete during a previous renovation of the stadium. Two more unexploded bombs, one constructed of plastic explosives, were found after the attack. Security agents had reportedly used a bomb dog to check the stadium, but the dog didn't find the devices.
402.
Date: May 17, 2004
Target: Iraqi Governing Council President Izzadine Saleem
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Details: Saleem was in a five-car convoy that arrived at the main entrance checkpoint for the Green Zone, the heavily protected U.S. headquarters. A red Volkswagen containing a bomb was parked at the checkpoint and exploded as Saleem's car drove past. Saleem was killed along with four others, including the bomber. Six Iraqis and two U.S. soldiers were wounded in the blast. The entrance is known as the "Assassin's Gate."
403.
Date: July 14, 2004
Target: Governor Usama Kashmoula
Location: Mosul, Iraq
Details: Kashmoula was traveling in five-car motorcade when attackers in another car pulled alongside and threw a grenade at his car, then opened fire with automatic weapons. Kashmoula and two bodyguards were killed. The attackers were killed in the ensuing gun battle with Kashmoula's remaining bodyguards.
404.
Date: August 25, 2004
Target: Intelligence Chief Tareq Abu Rajab
Location: Gaza City, Gaza Strip
Details: Rajab was traveling in a two-vehicle convoy when shots rang out. One of the vehicles reportedly flipped over. Rajab was seriously wounded in the chest, two bodyguards were wounded, and two of his bodyguards were killed.
405.
Date: September 2004
Target: Presidential Candidate Viktor Yushchenko
Location: Ukraine
Details: Yushchenko underwent a dramatic transformation during his campaign when his face became disfigured. After months of tests, doctors determined that he had been deliberately poisoned with a dioxin. Speculation focused on Ukraine's SBU intelligence service in a botched assassination attempt. Yushchenko was ultimately elected President of Ukraine.
406.
Date: November 2, 2004
Target: Filmmaker Theo van Gogh
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Details: Van Gogh was murdered as he rode a bicycle to work. He was shot six times and had his throat cut by an Islamic extremist in broad daylight on a city street. Two knives were left in his body, one pinning a note which contained lines from the Koran. Van Gogh had received death threats since the release of his film, "Submission," which dealt with violence against Muslim women. Police arrested Mohammed Bouyer shortly after the attack. Eleven other Muslim men were arrested in connection with the attack and charged with conspiracy.
407.
Date: November 18, 2004
Target: Prosecutor Danilo Anderson
Location: Caracas, Venezuela
Details: Anderson was driving through town when two explosions destroyed his SUV and killed him. He had been pressing charges against backers of Venezuela's failed 2002 coup.
408.
Date: November 19, 2004
Target: Judge Sarath Ambepitiya
Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka
Details: Ambepitiya and his bodyguard were getting out of their car in front of his home, when a gunman opened fire, killing them both. The gunman then escaped in a van. The judge was known for handing out heavy sentences in terrorist and drug-related cases.
409.
Date: November 23, 2004
Target: Deputy Governor Soonthorn Litpakdi
Location: Pattani, Thailand
Details: Litpakdi, along with the governor and other officials, was visiting the scene of an earlier shooting that injured two volunteer guards. Gunmen in the crowd opened fire, shooting Litpakdi in the back. He was taken to the hospital and treated for the wound.
410.
Date: January 4, 2005
Target: Governor Ali al-Haidari
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Details: Al-Haidari's three-vehicle convoy was passing through Baghdad's northern neighborhood of Hurriyah when unidentified gunmen opened fire, killing him. Al-Haidari was the target of a previous assassination attempt in 2004 that killed two of his bodyguards. As of 2006, he is the highest-ranking Iraqi official killed since the former president of the now defunct Governing Council, Abdel-Zahraa Othman, was assassinated in 2004. On November 1, 2004, al-Haidari's deputy Hatim Kamil was shot dead while on his way to work. The Ansar al-Sunnah Army militant group claimed responsibility for that attack.
411.
Date: January 27, 2005
Target: Lawmaker Shah AMS Kibria
Location: Habiganj, Bangladesh
Details: Insurgents hurled grenades at Kibria as he spoke at a political rally, fatally wounding him and killing at least three others. Nearly 50 people were wounded. Kibria survived the initial attack, sustaining serious injuries in both his legs, and was rushed by ambulance to a hospital in Dhaka, where he died. It was the second fatal attack on an Awami League rally in recent months. There has been no claim of responsibility for any of the attacks.
412.
Date: February 14, 2005
Target: Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri
Location: Beirut, Lebanon
Details: Hariri was assassinated while driving himself in his armored Mercedes from a pre-election meeting at Parliament near Nejmeh Square to his residence at Kuraytem Palace. Hariri and 21 other people, including members of his security detail, were killed in a massive explosion when a van bomb detonated as his motorcade passed by the front of the St. George Hotel on Minae Al-Hosn Street in downtown Beirut. Evidence indicates that the attack was planned and carried out by a cabal of Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services under the direction of the highest ranking Syrian officials and their cohorts in Lebanon's corrupt political system.
Hariri's motorcade consisted of six vehicles. The lead car, a Toyota Land Cruiser, was manned by four officers; the second, a Mercedes 500 S, was manned by three of Hariri's private security team; and the third, an armored Mercedes, was driven by Hariri, who was accompanied by an associate (Mr. Fleyhan). The fourth and fifth cars were Mercedes 500 S's, each manned by three of Mr. Hariri's private security team; they took up positions on either flank of car number three (the principal vehicle). The sixth vehicle was a Chevrolet, fully equipped as an ambulance and manned by three of Mr. Hariri's private security team, two of whom were paramedics. The second, fourth, and fifth cars were equipped with remote IED jamming devices, which were switched on and functional at the time of the attack.
The events surrounding Hariri's murder are as follows:
The detonation seemed to occur the instant after Hariri's Mercedes, flanked by two other Mercedes, passed by the van. Evidence points to a suicide bomber triggering the blast. UN investigators have found that eight to ten professionals had kept Hariri under constant surveillance for at least two months prior to his assassination. At least six of the surveillants had all three routes from Parliament to Kuraytem Palace under close scrutiny on the day of Hariri's murder. The Mitsubishi van can be seen on video taken by a CCTV security camera positioned across the street from the St. George Hotel at an HSBC Bank. The footage shows the van traveling at least six times slower than the surrounding traffic.
413.
Date: April 27, 2005
Target: Legislator Sheikha Lameah Khaddouri al-Sakri
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Details: Three men with pistols shot Khaddouri to death at the front gate of her home in a brazen daylight attack. It was the first assassination of a National Assembly member since the elections on January 30, 2005. She was one of 87 women in the 275-member Assembly and had survived two previous assassination attempts, one when she was fired upon as she was parking in a garage, and another when gunmen attacked her as she was driving in the capital, destroying her car. She had moved from house to house in Baghdad in an effort to head off further attacks. Friends had told her that her bodyguards were too young and that she needed better protection. In the fatal attack, she had just been dropped off by her bodyguard at the driveway that leads to her front gate. She walked through the five-foot-tall iron gate and closed it behind her. As she made her way to her front door, three pistol-wielding men got out of a sedan and knocked on the gate. One called to her by name and she might have thought it was her bodyguard. When she returned to the gate they opened fire, hitting her eight times in the face and chest. Earlier in the day she was interviewed on television, and she said, "I'm afraid they will kill me because I've been on TV." She had only recently begun using security guards paid for by her family. One neighbor reported that when asked about having better security, she had said, "God will protect me."
414.
Date: May 14, 2005
Target: Director General Jassim Mohammed Ghani
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Details: Gunmen assassinated Ghani in a drive-by shooting while he stood outside his home at about 9 p.m.
415.
Date: May 16, 2005
Target: Legislator Saul Rubio Ayala
Location: Guasave, Mexico
Details: Ayala and his assistant were killed as they rode in their sport utility vehicle. Gunmen in two vehicles overtook the pair and opened fire with 9mm automatic pistols and large-caliber assault weapons. Both men died at the scene. Their vehicle had been hit 90 times.
416.
Date: May 22, 2005
Target: Director General Ali Mousa Salman
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Details: Gunmen killed Salman and his driver after Salman's car left his home. In the preceding months, more than a dozen senior government officials in Baghdad had been shot dead in Baghdad in well-planned attacks.