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PR Exec Who Represented Drew Peterson, Rod Blagojevich Among 22 Killed in Kabul Attack

“Rod and I are devastated for his family, and heartbroken over the loss of a good friend,” Patti Blagojevich said in a statement.

The CEO of a public relations firm that represented the legal team of notorious Bolingbrook police sergeant Drew Peterson and disgraced Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was among 22 people killed during a Taliban offensive Wednesday in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Glenn Selig was the president and CEO of Selig Multimedia. The company confirmed his death in a statement.

"Glenn was a tireless professional, loyal friend and pillar of the community, but most importantly he was a loving husband and wonderful father," the statement read.

Zach Wright, associate project manager at Selig Multimedia, said Selig was in the country for a "prospecting trip."

“Glenn was looking at the potential of working with contractors (in Afghanistan), focusing on efforts to combat extremism, through a campaign highlighting the country’s new president, and creating a democracy forum for Afghan women,” Wright told NBC 5.

Wright was not certain when Selig arrived there. He left the U.S. last Tuesday, and he believes he may have arrived in Kabul Thursday or Friday.

The public relations executive from Tampa, Florida, was among the multiple American citizens who died in the Taliban's 13-hour siege of an upscale hotel in the capital Kabul over the weekend, NBC News has confirmed.

Selig's firm represented Peterson's defense team and published multiple books on the case. He was also Blagojevich's publicist while the embattled Illinois politician faced corruption charges.

“Rod and I are devastated for his family, and heartbroken over the loss of a good friend,” Patti Blagojevich said in a statement.

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Selig was also a spokesperson for Rick Gates, a long time business associate of Paul Manafort. Both Gates and Manafort were indicted by special consel Robert Mueller on 12 charges, including conspiracy against the U.S.

Another person that died in the attack has been identified as Dr. Abdullah Waheed Poyan. He was Afghanistan’s General Consul to Lahore and has family in Virginia, NBC News reported. It wasn't immediately clear whether he was a U.S. citizen.

Twenty-two people were killed in the attack, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday. No exact figures were immediately available for either the U.S. fatalities or injuries. The dead included 14 foreigners, Afghan officials said. Eleven of the 14 foreigners had been previously identified as working for the private Afghan airline KamAir.

the U.S. State Department said Tuesday.

"We offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who were killed and wish for the speedy recovery of those wounded," the State Department said. "Out of respect for the families of the deceased, we have no further comment."

The siege at Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel ended Sunday with Afghan security forces saying they had killed the last of six Taliban militants who stormed the hotel in suicide vests late the previous night, looking for foreigners and Afghan officials to kill. More than 150 people were rescued or managed to escape including 41 foreigners. Some hid in bathtubs or under mattresses as the attackers roamed the hotel's hallways killing people.

Afghan's interior ministry said an investigation was underway to find out how the attackers got into the building so easily. Najib Danish, spokesman for the interior ministry, said Tuesday that security forces also defused a vehicle full of explosives near the hotel after the siege ended.

The American deaths were the latest reminder of the continuing toll paid by the United States in Afghanistan, where local forces have struggled to fight the Taliban since the U.S. and NATO formally ended their combat mission in 2014.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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