The death of an Iraqi Governing Council member and another lethal bombing Thursday added to the mounting US woes in Iraq.

Akila al-Hashemi died from wounds she sustained in an assassination attempt on Saturday, the head of the country's US-led administration said yesterday.

"On behalf of the Coalition Provisional Authority and all its members, I offer condolences to her family, her colleagues on the Governing Council and the people of Iraq," Paul Bremer said in a written statement.

A dawn blast at a Baghdad hotel housing journalists from the US television network NBC killed a guard. It was the third deadly bomb attack in the city since Monday, and came as Washington tried to gain support at the United Nations for wider international help rebuilding and policing Iraq.

A senior American official said an eagerly awaited US report was expected to say there was documentary evidence that Iraq had chemical and biological weapons programs, but no proof of actual arms.

The expected findings of the report by David Kay would be a blow to US President George W. Bush, who argued before the war that the imminent threat from Saddam's weapons of mass destruction justified a preemptive invasion of Iraq.

In a speech on Tuesday, Bush called for more help securing and rebuilding Iraq. But leading opponents of the war such as France and Germany have been pressing for a swifter handover of power to Iraqis as a condition for their support.

Some Governing Council members have also pressed for a quick return to Iraqi self-rule. Members of the Council's delegation in New York denied any rift with the United States, but said they hoped a new constitution could be ready by May, paving the way for democratic elections and self-government.

Yesterday's blast in Baghdad shattered windows around the three-floor Aike Hotel where journalists from NBC are based.

(China Daily September 26, 2003)