Iraqi PM escapes convoy bombing

Iyad Allawi has survived several attempts on his life

Iraq's outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has escaped unhurt after a suicide bomber blew up a car near his convoy in Baghdad, his spokesman says.

At least two policemen are said to have died in the blast late on Wednesday.

On Thursday, a roadside bomb hit vehicles carrying foreigners on the road to Baghdad airport, killing two of them, a police spokesman said.

Insurgents seem to have stepped up attacks amid delays in forming a new government, our correspondent reports.

A spate of car bombings and killings in Baghdad and elsewhere have confirmed fears the insurgency is exploiting the power vacuum, BBC Baghdad correspondent Jim Muir says.

Thursday's bomb on the road to Baghdad airport struck three heavy vehicles, blowing them off the road, witnesses said.

Three other foreigners - an American, a Canadian and an Australian - died in an attack on the same stretch of road on Wednesday.

Al-Qaeda claim

The attempt on Mr Allawi's life was one of at least five bombings in Baghdad on Wednesday.

A statement posted on the internet claimed al-Qaeda was behind the attack.

The al-Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq, said to be led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has said it was behind large numbers of attacks on US and Iraqi troops and government officials. These claims can rarely be confirmed.

Mr Allawi himself has survived five assassination attempts so far, his spokesman said.

The checkpoint near the site of bombing is near Mr Allawi's house and the headquarters of his party, and has been attacked several times.