Iraqi governor killed in attack

An interior ministry source was quoted as saying assailants threw a hand grenade and opened fire on Usama Kashmula's car.

One report says two people travelling with the governor on his way to Baghdad were also killed.

It comes hours after a car bomb blew up in the capital, killing at least 10 people and injuring about 40.

Gunfight

Officials said Mr Kashmula was attacked about 100 km south of Mosul.

"He was on his way to Baghdad with a security escort of four cars, when the attackers in another car pulled up beside his vehicle and threw a grenade, and then shot at his car," an unnamed interior ministry source was quoted by Reuters as saying.

One report said four people ambushed the convoy.

Hazem Jalawi, a spokesman for the governate, told AFP news agency the attackers were killed in an ensuing gun battle with Mr Kashmula's bodyguards.

Last month, more than 60 people were killed in a series of car bombings on a single day in Mosul.

'Naked aggression'

The killing of Mr Kashmula came hours after a car bomb rocked Baghdad in the deadliest attack since the interim Iraqi government took office at the end of last month.

The blast happened at a pick-up and drop-off point in the area previously known as the Green Zone, the huge closed-off complex that until June was the headquarters of the US-led authorities in Iraq.

The BBC's Peter Greste, who was in the area at the time off the blast, said a Toyota truck blew up just 50m behind him.

Pieces of shrapnel rained down and there was gunfire as security guards struggled to control the panic.

Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who visited the scene, vowed to crush those responsible for the attack.

"This is a naked aggression against the Iraqi people. We will bring these criminals to justice."

He suggested the suspected suicide blast might have been in response to a police operation in Baghdad this week that led to the arrest of more than 500 suspects.

In western Iraq, US troops clashed with insurgents in the flashpoint Sunni city of Ramadi, about 100km (60 miles) from Baghdad, witnesses said.

One report quoted an Iraqi doctor as saying three people had been killed and 19 wounded.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3894653.stm