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4 Americans Die in Attack During Sadr City Meeting
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The security gains encouraged Farley, his son said. "The floodgates were now open," he recalled his father saying. "He was very enthusiastic."
U.S. officials have devoted considerable resources to the district councils, seeing them as potential pillars of democracy. Council members have little authority beyond relaying citizen concerns to provincial councils.
Brett Farley said his father embraced his work. In February, he and a colleague traveled with Iraqi council members to the United States to give them a glimpse of local politics in American cities.
Steven Farley was moved by the Iraqi representatives' determination, his son said, noting that several had been assassinated.
"He called them his Iraqi brothers," he said. "These were more than just diplomatic relations."
Tuesday's attack appeared to target Hassan Hussein Shammah, the deputy council chief. He and another council member were wounded in the attack, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.
U.S. troops took three men into custody. U.S. military officials found traces of explosives on the men's hands, said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a U.S. military spokesman.
Repeated attempts to reach Abdul Hassan Jbara, the ousted council member, were unsuccessful. A spokesman for Sadr in Sadr City said U.S. officials staged the bombing "to create chaos and strife."
Sadr recently announced a restructuring of his militia, the Mahdi Army, and the formation of a group that would carry out attacks solely against Americans.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters in Berlin that Tuesday's attack was a reminder of the risks U.S. diplomats are taking in Iraq. She lauded Farley, of Guthrie, Okla.
"He was one of the hundreds of dedicated men and women serving on Provincial Reconstruction Teams, helping the citizens of Iraq to rebuild and revitalize their local governments," Rice said.
Farley was deployed to Iraq as a Navy Reserve officer and was hired by the State Department last year. His contract would have been up for renewal next April, his son said.
Attabi, the council member, spent Tuesday morning rushing colleagues to the hospital. He said the attack was jarring but vowed to return to work.
"It will not affect our work," he said. "Tomorrow we will go again to the council building."
Special correspondents Dalya Hassan and Saad al-Izzi in Baghdad and staff researcher Robert E. Thomason in Washington contributed to this report.
