An Iraqi cabinet minister escaped a bomb attack unhurt in central Baghdad on Tuesday morning, a police source told Xinhua.

"A roadside bomb went off in Waziriyah district in central Baghdad at about 7:30 AM (04:30 GMT) near a four-wheel-drive vehicle carrying Jamil Ibrahim, chief security of the Iraqi woman minister of migration Suhaila Abed Jaafar," Captain Abdullah from Baghdad police told Xinhua.

Jaafar and Ibrahim escaped the blast unhurt, but the vehicle was damaged, said the captain.

Another blast took place when a roadside bomb detonated at about 8:00 AM (05:00 GMT) near a police patrol in Baghdad, killing one policeman and badly damaging a police vehicle, Abdulla said.

Also on Tuesday morning, a roadside bomb blew up near a convoy of sport utility vehicles (SUVs), usually used by foreign security contractors, at about 9:00 AM (06:00 GMT) in the Thrir Square in central Baghdad, wounding two civilians, according to the captain.

The nationalities of the foreigners remained unclear and it was not known whether there were any casualties in the blast.

(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2006)