Militants ambushed a convoy carrying a senior interior ministry official in the Iraqi capital, killing a bodyguard and injuring three others, as the country hosted U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. Gen. Tariq al-Baldawi, a deputy interior minister, escaped unhurt after gunmen in two cars opened fire on his convoy in Baghdad's western Adel neighborhood, an official in the ministry said on condition of anonymity. A bodyguard was killed in the attack and three others suffered injuries, including al-Baldawi's son, the official said. In the northeastern city of Kirkuk, gunmen opened fire late Monday on a police patrol, injuring two members of the security service, police Brig. Sarhat Kadier said Tuesday. On its Web site, the Ansar al-Sunnah Army group claimed responsibility for attacks with machine-gun fire against three Iraqi police cars in Kirkuk on Monday evening. Attackers also placed a bomb in the undercarriage of a doctor's car, but the device exploded as the physician entered a Kirkuk store to buy bread, sparing him but wounding two nearby civilians, Kadir said. --MORE 1326 Local Time 1026 GMT
