October 15, 1959
ABDUL KARIM KASSEM: London – Baghdad radio announced this evening that there has been another assassination attempt against Iraqi Prime Minister General Abdul Karim Kassem, in the hospital where he is being treated for injuries sustained in an earlier attempt on his life on October 7. According to a statement by the military authorities, links between the first and second attacks are being investigated. No details have been announced regarding today’s incident. However, it is believed that there is a strong nationalist reaction to Kassem and that fanatical opponents of his regime will not be easy to defeat. Nothing can be ruled out. Shortly before today’s announcement, Baghdad radio reported that since the first attack against him, Kassem had regained the use of his left arm after the removal of a bullet, and had received a group of Iraqi businessmen just returned from a tour of southeast Asia. He had also received Kurdish leader Mustafa al-Barzani. According to reports from Damascus, a Jordanian evening newspaper published information given by a visitor to Iraq suggesting that the Iraqi authorities had uncovered a new plot to abduct or kill Kassem.
