Bomb hits Iraqi army chief's convoy, three wounded

KIRKUK, Iraq, Mar 16 (Reuters) A roadside bomb hit a convoy of cars used by the chief of staff of the Iraqi armed forces south of Kirkuk today, but General Babakir Zebari was not present, police said.

The attack in the town of Taza 10 km south of the northern oil city of Kirkuk wounded three bodyguards, said Colonel Sarhat Qadir of the Kirkuk police.

A Defence Ministry spokesman said Zebari was not in Iraq at present. The attack was the latest in a series on high ranking Iraqi army and government ministers.

Major General Mubdar Hatim al-Dulaimi, commander of the Iraqi Army 6th Division, was assassinated on March 6 when a sniper shot him in the head.

A roadside bomb hit a convoy of cars of Iraq's interior minister in Baghdad two days later, killing at least one person, but minister Bayan Jabor was not in the convoy.

REUTERS SY BS1903