Gunmen open fire on Iraqi minister's convoy, kill one

BAGHDAD, Jan 24 (Reuters) Gunmen opened fire on the motorcade of Iraq's higher education minister on a highway in southern Baghdad today, killing one of his guards, the minister told Reuters.

''We came under fire at different points along the highway. One of my guards was killed and another was shot in the head and seriously wounded,'' said minister Abd Dhiab al-Ajili, a Sunni.

Ajili said he was heading to work when his convoy was attacked in southern Dora, a predominantly Sunni district that is a dangerous part of Baghdad. U S-led troops struggled to quell violence in an offensive there last summer.

''I was surprised. There were no police, no army and no U S soldiers. It was as if the area was empty,'' he said.

An Education Ministry spokesman said the minister did not appear to have been deliberately targeted as the highway was not part of his normal route. There has been an increase in random shootings along some of Baghdad's major roads in recent weeks.

The minister became embroiled in a row with fellow Shi'ite ministers last November after gunmen in police uniforms staged a mass kidnapping at the Education Ministry.

While the Shi'ite-led Interior Ministry says most of those kidnapped were later released, a ministry spokesman was saying late yesterday that as many as 50 were still missing.

REUTERS PB BS1321