Iraqi Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum survived an apparent assassination attempt in Baghdad today when a roadside bomb hit his motorcade.
"The minister was going to attend a ceremony in Baiji when a roadside bomb exploded," the minister's spokesman said. The convoy was heading for the refining town 110 miles north of the capital.
"The minister is fine and is now at the ministry in a meeting with his staff," he added.
The spokesman said two bodyguards were killed and two seriously wounded when two of the cars in the convoy were destroyed in the Rashdiya district of northern Baghdad. A police source later said three guards had died.
Iraq's oil industry, which has the world's third largest known reserves, has been crippled by war, sanctions and now the insurgency among minority Sunni Arabs.
Production remains limited, curbed by decaying infrastructure and sabotage.
