BAGHDAD, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- An Iraqi lawmaker close to Iranian intelligence agencies said U.S. officials were behind an attempt to assassinate former Iraqi Deputy Premier Ahmed Chalabi.
A suicide bomber rammed his sports utility vehicle into a convoy carrying the one-time Pentagon favorite Chalabi Friday evening, killing six of his bodyguards and wounding 17 others. Chalabi was unhurt in the attack.
Chalabi has opposed provisions in the long-term security arrangement between the United States and Iraq that outlined the future of U.S. military bases in the country.
Iraqi lawmaker Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes said he had received information from anonymous sources suggesting U.S. officials were behind the attack, the Iranian Press TV reported Monday.
Evidence emerged in April 2006 that Mohandes was on the payroll of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Mohandes said an American-made GMC SUV was used in the suicide attack, noting it matched the rest of the vehicles in the convoy.
The Shiite lawmaker said also that U.S. officials had issued an arrest warrant for the former deputy premier.
Chalabi was appointed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to oversee a commission slated with ensuring former Baath Party loyalists do not obtain positions in the central government.
He has survived at least three assassination attempts since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
