A roadside bomb hit an armed convoy carrying Iraqi Industry Minister Osama Abdel-Aziz al- Najafi on Thursday, killing three bodyguards but leaving him unharmed, his ministry said. Ministry spokeswoman Dhuha Mohammed said the convoy was hit near the town of Balad, 90 km (55 miles) north of Baghdad. The blast also wounded another of Najafi's guards, she said. Mohammed said the minister, a Sunni, had been traveling home to Mosul in northern Iraq for the weekend. Senior government officials often travel by air because of the threat of roadside bombs, according to a report of Reuters.
