Diwaniya police deny Najaf governor was target for assassination attempt

DIWANIYA / IraqiNews.com: The Diwaniya police chief denied on Friday that the governor of Najaf was target for an attempt that targeted his motorcade on a road linking the province to the city of Diwaniya. “Najaf Governor Adnan al-Zarfi was not target for an assassination attempt on the Diwaniya-Najaf road,” Maj. General Abdulaziz al-Salhi told IraqiNews.com news agency, denying earlier reports that Zarfi escaped an attempt on his life today (Jan. 22). “A blast occurred on the Diwaniya-Najaf road, near al-Shamiya district, (30 km) west of Diwaniya, but came under U.S. forces’ control. The governor’s convoy was not a target for that blast and was not even close to it,” explained Salhi. The Najaf province information chief, Haytham Shabaa had told IraqiNews.com earlier on Friday that Zarfi came under a bungled assassination attempt at the entrance of al-Diwaniya province but no casualties or losses were reported. AmR (P) 4