Iraqi governor escapes bomb attack

The governor of Iraq’s western Anbar province has escaped an assassination attempt after a bomber detonated his explosives-laden car in his convoy, officials say.

The attack, targeting governor Qassim Mohammed Abid, came on Monday, wounding three of his bodyguards and six policemen.

“A suicide car bomb in the center of Ramadi targeted a convoy carrying the governor this morning,” Abid’s media advisor Mohammed Fathi told AFP, adding that the governor was unhurt.

It was the second attack targeting the governor in little more than a year.

Abid, who was elected to office in January 2009, lost his left hand in an attack in Anbar’s provincial capital, Ramadi, in December 2009.

23 people were killed and 30 others wounded in the attack.