BAGHDAD, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Nine people
were wounded in two bomb explosions in Baghdad, including one targeted
at a politician convoy, an Interior Ministry source and the politician
said on Monday.
An explosive charge attached to a vehicle
which was part of the convoy of Izzat al-Shabander, an independent lawmaker,
detonated in the morning in Jadriyah district in central Baghdad, wounding
three of his bodyguards and two bystanders, the source told Xinhua on condition
of anonymity.
Shabander was not in the convoy when
the attack occurred, the source said.
Shabander has lately joined the State
of Law political bloc, headed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, to
run the country's parliamentary elections in March 2010.
"I can confirm that terrorists
attacked my convoy. I wasn't there, but I knew that three of my bodyguards
were wounded, one of them lost a leg," Shabander told Xinhua by telephone
without elaborating.
In separate incident, a roadside bomb
went off late on Sunday night near a police patrol, wounding three policemen
in Suliekh district in northern Baghdad, the ministry source added.
Sporadic attacks continue in Baghdad
as part of recent security deterioration which shaped a setback to the
efforts of the Iraqi government to restore normalcy in the country ahead
of the country's national polls slated for March 7.