Three Iraqi officials from the eastern province of Diyala have been found killed in a dangerous area southwest of Baghdad, police said today.
It was not clear how or when Diyala's Deputy Governor Jassem Abed, Governing Council member Shehad Makki, and deputy head of Baquba municipality Duraid Fadel were killed, police in the provincial capital of Baquba said.
The three men had been on a pilgrimage from Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, to the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) southwest of the capital.
Their bodies were found in the Latifiya area, where insurgents often attack US and British troops, fledgling Iraqi security forces and interim government officials.