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599.
Date: July 17, 2004
Target: Justice Minister Malik Dohan al-Hassan
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Details: A suicide car bomber was parked near al-Hassan's home. When the bomber saw al-Hassan's five-vehicle motorcade approaching, he sped toward it. A security vehicle maneuvered into the bomber's path and the car bomb exploded as the tail end of al-Hassan's motorcade drove past, killing five of his bodyguards and destroying three vehicles. Al-Hassan was unhurt. The attack occurred at an intersection 500 yards from al-Hassan's home.
(4-STARS: Protector action during the attack entirely prevented injury.)

600.
Date: July 30, 2004
Target: Prime Minister Designate Shaukat Aziz
Location: Fateh Jang, Pakistan
Details: Aziz was leaving a political rally and had just gotten into his armored Mercedes car with Mayor Tahir Sadiq. A suicide bomber approached the vehicle and detonated himself before the driver could close his door. The blast killed the driver and seven others, including the bomber. Aziz and Sadiq were not injured.
(2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)

601.
Date: September 16, 2004
Target: President Hamid Karzai
Location: Gardez, Afghanistan
Details: A rocket was fired at the helicopter carrying Karzai as it was coming in for a landing, but the rocket missed. The helicopter aborted its landing and returned Karzai to Kabul. He was scheduled to open a school in Gardez. No one was injured.

602.
Date: November 11, 2004
Target: Governor Abdel-Rahman Mostafa
Location: Kirkuk, Iraq
Details: A car bomb exploded as Mostafa's convoy went past, wounding 16 people. Mostafa escaped unharmed.

603.
Date: November 14, 2004
Target: PLO Chief Mahmoud Abbas
Location: Gaza City, Gaza Strip
Details: Abbas was inside a tent to mourn the death of former PLO Chief Yasser Arafat. A group of armed militants burst into the tent and opened fire with AK-47s. Abbas's protectors hustled him away and he was not injured; two of his bodyguards were killed and four others were wounded.
(4-STARS: Protector action during the attack entirely prevented injury.)

604.
Date: January 19, 2005
Target: President Lansana Conte
Location: Conakry, Guinea
Details: Conte escaped assassination attempt when gunmen opened fire on his convoy. He was unharmed, but a member of a security team riding a motorcycle alongside the convoy was seriously wounded. The attack occurred near a railroad crossing in a crowded suburb called Enco 5, as Conte was returning from Wawa, his home village. Bullets struck several vehicles in the convoy, but did not stop it.
(2-STARS: Protective Strategies or Resources at the scene favorably influenced safety/survival.)

605.
Date: January 21, 2005
Target: Actor Christian Slater
Location: London, England
Details: Slater was leaving a theater in London, where he had been starring in a stage version of the novel "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", when, according to some reports, a man tried to attack him with a knife. A security guard reportedly leapt forwards to protect the actor, and was injured on the arm. Slater was not injured. (This version of events has been disputed in subsequent reports, some of which say Slater was not present during the incident at all. Because of wide reports about an incident, it remains in the Compendium, but is not counted in the STARS data.)

606.
Date: April 20, 2005
Target: Prime Minister Iyad Allawi
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Details: Allawi escaped unhurt when a suicide bomber in a car attacked his convoy as he headed home from a meeting on a new cabinet line-up. One policeman was killed in the blast and four were wounded. Allawi had also escaped an assassination years earlier while in exile in London.
(4-STARS: Protector action during the attack entirely prevented injury.)

607.
Date: May 10, 2005
Target: President George W. Bush
Location: Tbilisi, Georgia
Details: While Bush delivered a pro-democracy speech to a crowd of at least 150,000 people in Freedom Square, an RGD-5 fragmentation hand grenade was tossed to within 60 feet of the podium, but failed to explode. It was not discovered until later. In the hours after the incident, Georgia officials insisted the device was an inert, Soviet-era training grenade that posed no threat to Bush or his audience. The White House later acknowledged that security protocols broke down at the event when throngs of people proceeded through barricades and became part of the audience without passing through metal detectors. According to the FBI, the grenade was thrown by an unknown assailant and was wrapped in a dark-colored handkerchief and bounced off a woman's head. Vladimir Arutyunian was arrested after he killed a policeman in a shoot-out and was himself shot three times. He confessed to throwing the grenade and said he would try to kill Bush again if he got the chance. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

608.
Date: July 5, 2005
Target: Diplomat Mohammed Younis Khan
Location: Mansour, Iraq
Details: The Pakistani Ambassador to Iraq escaped unharmed after gunmen attacked his vehicle in a Baghdad neighborhood where several embassies are located. Khan was heading home from work when two cars tried to sandwich his vehicle. Four to five gunmen started to shoot at the convoy, but Khan escaped without injury when his bodyguards fired back.
(3-STARS: Protector action during the attack favorably influenced safety/survival.)

609.
Date: July 15, 2005
Target: President Jalal Talabani
Location: Iraq
Details: A suicide car bomb exploded on a bridge overlooking Talabani's home, killing three of his guards. The attack occurred about 8 p.m. on Al-Hussein Bridge over the Tigris River. Several people were wounded, including some civilians. The Supreme Council has offices in the area, and leaders of the organization also live in the Jadriyah district. It was unclear if Talabani was in the house at the time of the explosion. Guards are posted on the bridge because it overlooks the president's house and leads to an area where several key government figures have homes.

610.
Date: October 7, 2005
Target: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
Location: Sungai Padi, Thailand
Details: A homemade bomb triggered by a mobile telephone exploded about one hour after Shinawatra toured the area. The blast wounded one police officer. Muslim insurgents frequently target the area.

611.
Date: October 12, 2005
Target: State Minister Saad al-Hardan
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Details: Though Al-Hardan was not in the convoy at the time, attackers detonated a car bomb along its route as it neared the heavily fortified Green Zone. Four of al-Hardan's bodyguards were wounded.

612.
Date: October 12, 2005
Target: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Location: Kabul, Afghanistan
Details: A rocket exploded outside the residence of the Canadian ambassador, just hours before Rice arrived for talks with the country's leaders. Police said a second rocket damaged a government building. The attack wounded a guard.

613.
Date: January 9, 2006
Target: U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Details: Two suicide bombers carrying police identity cards walked up to an Interior Ministry checkpoint and blew themselves up hundreds of yards from a ceremony attended by Khalilza, as well as Iraq's interior and defense ministers. The blast killed at least 18 police officers and wounded 25. Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. None of the protectees was injured. The bombers, who were wearing suicide vests under plain clothes, were reportedly able to walk into an area near the ministry, which is closed to cars. The men had obtained police badges and showed them at a checkpoint at the north gate of the ministry. They were refused entry to the area and officers attempted to search them. When they attempted to run, police shot at one of the bombers, who blew himself up as they fired, wounding two police officers and killing himself. The second bomber reportedly became lost in the crowd. Several minutes later, an explosion ripped through the people who had gathered around to help. The ceremony continued without interruption about a quarter of a mile away.