PHOENIX - A young Iraqi woman whose father allegedly hit her with his car because she had become too Westernized died of her injuries yesterday, after lying in a coma for nearly two weeks.

Noor Faleh Almaleki, 20, underwent spinal surgery and had been in a hospital since Oct. 20, when, police say, her father ran down her and her boyfriend's mother with his Jeep as the women were walking across a parking lot in the Phoenix suburb of Peoria.

The other woman, Amal Khalaf, is expected to survive.

Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 48, fled after the attack but was arrested Thursday when he arrived at Atlanta's airport, where he was sent from the United Kingdom after authorities denied him entrance.

Peoria police brought him back to Arizona over the weekend.

At a court hearing over the weekend in Phoenix, county prosecutor Stephanie Low told a judge that Almaleki had admitted committing the crime.

"By his own admission, this was an intentional act and the reason was that his daughter had brought shame on him and his family," Low said. "This was an attempt at an honor-killing."

Family members had told police that Almaleki had attacked his daughter because he believed that she had become too Westernized and was not living according to his traditional Iraqi values.

Almaleki, wearing a jail uniform, said only his name and birth date during the hearing. He has declined requests to be interviewed.

Almaleki had faced charges of aggravated assault, but Peoria police spokesman Mike Tellef said the charges would be upgraded in light of Noor Faleh Almaleki's death.

Police said the Almalekis moved to Peoria from Iraq in the mid-1990s.