BAGHDAD, July 17 (AFP) - Six people were killed and 36 wounded in two suicide car bombings in Iraq Saturday, one targeting a government minister and purportedly claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked militant Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi.
Justice Minister Malek Dohan, 83, emerged unscathed from the attack on his convoy but three of his guards, including a nephew, were killed along with two civilians.
Eight people were also wounded in the blast which hit Dohan`s motorcade as it was taking him to work from his home in the west of the capital.
"My father is fine and in good health and he went straight to his office at the ministry after the attack," his son, Haidar Dohan al-Hassan, a 37-year-old businessman, told AFP by telephone.
A driver in a white Toyota approached the minister`s convoy and blew himself up, killing three people in a Land Cruiser which was part of the convoy and two civilians in a BMW behind it, said interior ministry spokesman Colonel Adnan Abdul Rahman.
Ambulances were seen rushing to the scene, where fires raged from the burning vehicles, as casualties were taken to the nearby Eskan Hospital.
Three policemen were wounded less than an hour later in a second blast close by.
A seasoned lawyer and politician, Hassan assumed a high profile earlier this month with the unveiling of a new national security law giving the government emergency powers in its battle against the 15-month-old insurgency.
He is also one of the key players in the process of trying Saddam Hussein and 11 of his lieutenants, after their first appearance in the dock on July 1.
Zarqawi`s Tawhid wa al-Jihad (Unification and Holy War) group claimed the attack in a message posted on an Islamist website, although its authenticity could not be verified.
"Your brothers of the Tawhid wa al-Jihad group led an operation against the apostate and traitor called Malek Dohan al-Hassan", said the statement issued in the name of the fugitive Jordanian Islamist who has a 25 million dollar US bounty on his head.
In another blow to Iraq`s nascent security forces, a car bomb exploded oustside a National Guard base in the restive town of Mahmudiya, 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of Baghdad.
An Iraqi civilian was killed and 25 people wounded, hospital and interior ministry source said.
"An Oldsmobile vehicle sped towards the entrance of the building and when its driver failed to stop as instructed, he was fired on and the car exploded about 25 metres (yards) from the entrance," said guardsman Adel Taha.
The interior ministry confirmed the attack was a suicide bombing.
A number of volunteers were queueing to enlist at the time of the blast, said another guardsman, Ahmed Hamza.
The new violence came on the anniversary of the 1968 coup which brought Saddam`s Baath party to power and followed a rash of deadly car bombs earlier this week.
On Thursday Prime Minister Iyad Allawi announced the creation of a new internal intelligence unit to crush the "terrorists, criminals and enemies of Iraq" his government holds reponsible for the bloodshed.
There was still no word on the fate of a Philippine hostage despite Manila`s concession to his captors` demand for the early withdrawal of its 51-strong troop and police contingent from Iraq.
Ignoring sharp criticism from both Australia and the United States, the Philippine government said 10 soldiers had already left their base for neighbouring Kuwait and the force`s commander, Brigadier General Jovito Palparan, was due to follow.
The pullout deprives Washington of another ally in Iraq. Spain and several Latin American countries withdrew their troops after deadly Madrid train bombings in March.
Thailand also announced Friday it had started the withdrawal of its 451 troops from the country at the end of their deployment, ignoring an appeal by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to delay the pullout beyond the end of September.