Just 2 Seconds (51 page)

551.
Date: March 21, 1999
Target: President Aslan Maskhadov
Location: Grozny, Chechnya
Details: Maskhadov narrowly survived an assassination attempt when an explosion rocked his motorcade as it passed by. Maskhadov was unhurt. A few bodyguards were wounded. Maskhadov was returning from a meeting with oil industry officials. The explosion occurred about 660 feet from the presidential residence.
(2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)

552.
Date: May 2, 1999
Target: Deputy Minister Izzat Ibrahim
Location: Kerbala, Iraq
Details: Ibrahim narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when assailants threw two grenades at him as he got out of his car. Several bodyguards and bystanders were wounded, but Ibrahim was unhurt.

553.
Date: May 14, 1999
Target: Ambassador Karl-Heinz Albert Kuhna
Location: Athens, Greece
Details: An anti-tank rocket hit Kuhna's residence, damaging the home but causing no injuries. Kuhna and his wife were home at the time of the attack, late in the evening. The rocket landed on the roof and detonated. Police found a makeshift launch tube in an empty lot more than 100 yards from the heavily guarded residence. The tube had broken in half, apparently from the launch. The only terrorist group in Greece known to use such rockets is November 17.

554.
Date: July 22, 1999
Target: Uday Hussein (President Hussein's son)
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Details: Uday was attacked in an assassination attempt by opposition forces. An armed group exchanged gunshots with Uday's bodyguards in front of a horse-riding club belonging to the president's son. One of his bodyguards died in the attack. (4
-STARS:
Protector action during the attack entirely prevented injury.)

555.
Date: August 15, 1999
Target: Drug Commander Mariano Herran Salvatti
Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Details: Salvatti and his wife were riding in their car when two gunmen, each riding on the back of a motorcycle, pulled alongside and opened fire. One bodyguard was wounded in the leg, and one of the attackers was wounded three times and captured. The Salvatti's were unharmed.
(3-STARS: Protector action during the attack favorably influenced safety/survival.)

556.
Date: September 2, 1999
Target: Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Details: Ramadan escaped assassination when armed dissidents dressed in Iraqi army uniforms opened fire on his motorcade while he was
en route
from Tikrit to Baghdad. Two of Ramadan's bodyguards were killed and three were wounded. One of the attackers was killed and the others escaped.
(3-STARS: Protector action during the attack favorably influenced safety/survival.)

557.
Date: November 29, 1999
Target: Chief Minister S. C. Jamir
Location: Piphema Village, India
Details: Jamir escaped an assassination attempt unharmed when a group of twenty separatist rebels hurled grenades and sprayed his car with bullets for 15 minutes. Two of his bodyguards were killed. It was the third assassination attempt on Jamir.
(2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)

558.
Date: December 12, 1999
Target: Governor Bola Tinubu
Location: Lagos, Nigeria
Details: Tinubu escaped unharmed when an armed gang opened fire on a convoy carrying him, and bodyguards shot and killed four assailants. The motorcade was returning to his official residence in the early hours from an inspection when it was blocked and fired on in the attack. Seven people arrested at the scene claimed to have been sent to the area by a militant group "to look for armed robbers."
(4-STARS: Protector action during the attack entirely prevented injury.)

559.
Date: January 5, 2000
Target: Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka
Details: A guard became suspicious of a woman outside of Bandaranaike's office and conducted an identity check. She claimed to be Sinhalese, but couldn't speak the language properly. When the officer called for a Tamil translator, she set off a bomb strapped under her clothing, killing herself and 12 others, and wounding 28. Bandaranaike was not injured. The woman was later identified as a member of the Black Tigers terrorist group.
(2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)

560.
Date: March 10, 2000
Target: Cabinet Ministers
Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka
Details: A bomber blew himself up, killing 18 others, including five police officers, and wounding 46 on a busy city street. The attack appeared to be targeted at a motorcade for cabinet ministers that was about to leave, or the defense minister, who was in meetings at the Parliament nearby. The bomb apparently went off prematurely as the bomber positioned himself near the motorcade.

561.
Date: October 2, 2000
Target: Deputy Minister M.L.M. Hisbullah
Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka
Details: A remote-controlled roadside bomb exploded as Hisbullah was driven past, but he escaped harm. It was the second assassination attempt on him in three days. The Tamil Tiger rebels were blamed.

562.
Date: November 9, 2000
Target: Mayor Edi Rama
Location: Triana, Albania
Details: Newly-elected Mayor Rama escaped injury when a sniper fired shots into his apartment. Rama blamed opposition leader Sali Berisha for the attack. Rama was brutally beaten by three men in 1996, when Berisha was president.

563.
Date: January 14, 2001
Target: Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah
Location: Srinagar, India
Details: As Abdullah spoke at the opening of a new bridge, two rifle-grenades were fired from a distance, one exploding 100 feet from Abdullah and the other exploding on the roof of a nearby house. After the explosions, security personnel fired into the air for several minutes adding to the panic. There were no reported casualties among the 700 people attending. Islamic militants were blamed.

564.
Date: February 16, 2001
Target: Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic
Location: Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Details: As Mihajlovic's motorcade entered the city, a gunman opened fire with a pistol. Mihajlovic's car sped away, but some of his bodyguards remained behind and got involved in a gunfight. Four people were taken into custody.
(4-STARS: Protector action during the attack entirely prevented injury.)