Iraqi opposition faction denies reported assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein

The Higher Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, an Iraqi Shiite Muslim opposition group, said it knows nothing of what had been reported of an assassination attempt against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Replying to a question asked by Reuters on what a report by the UAE daily al-Itihad on Monday that the Iraqi President was wounded in an assassination attempt, a spokesman for the council said, "We know nothing about this news."

On Monday, the al-Itihad daily reported that a spokesman for the opposition Iraqi group known as the "Failaq Bader" (Bader contingent), led by Muhammad Baqer al-Hakim, announced in a telephone call that Saddam Hussein was wounded in the assassination attempt.

The paper did not give other details on when and where the attempt was made or who was behind it.