ITF Chairman Ergec escaped unharmed in the assassination attempt while his three guards were slightly wounded. The car, rigged with explosives, went off outside the ITF office in Kirkuk. The three guards, whose health conditions were stable, were taken to the Cumhuri Hospital.
It was the second assassination attempt against the ITC leader in 12 months. He was slightly injured in another assassination attempt in June 2005.
Tensions in the oil-rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk have been running high since the American invasion of Iraqi. Iraqi Kurds stepped up the efforts to change the demographic structure of the city by bringing nearby mountain-dwelling Kurds to the city and driving Arabs and Turkmen out.
Several ITF members and prominent Arabs have been subjected to assassination attempts in the city. Kurdish paramilitary forces have been blamed.
Benzer Haberler 
