BAGHDAD, May 18: Iraq's slain Governing Council chief Ezzedine Salim may have been held up at a US checkpoint just before he was killed in Monday's suicide attack, because he did not have proper ID, an Iraqi minister said.

"Yes, I heard that account, but it is not confirmed. As far as I'm concerned, we're waiting for confirmation," Interior Minister Samir Sumaydah said at a news conference on Tuesday.

The minister was asked if Mr Salim had been held up at a US checkpoint because he did not have the right identification badge and whether the delay in getting his document contributed to his vulnerability.

Ezzedine Salim, 61, was killed in a suicide bombing outside the gates of Baghdad's highly protected coalition headquarters, known as the Green Zone, as he headed for a meeting at the Governing Council offices.

Mr Sumaydah said an Iraqi team was investigating the car bombing with the help of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. The attack was claimed on a website by a previously unknown group but the coalition said it bore the "hallmarks" of Al Qaeda-linked Jordanian militant Abu Mussab al Zarqawi. -AFP