BAGHDAD (AFP) - At least nine people were injured after a car bomb punched another hole into battle-scarred Baghad, while militants kidnapped more foreigners and shot dead a top oil ministry official.
Fires were raging near major oil wells in northern Iraq after attacks on a pipeline network halted vital exports from Kirkuk to Turkey, dealing a new setback to efforts bring in much-needed revenue for reconstruction.
Iraqis and US troops alike were keenly watching the contest for the White House, with no clear sign of who will win the presidential election after a campaign that has focused closely on the situation in Iraq.
Baghdad shook to the all-too familiar sound of a car bomb that injured at least nine people who had been waiting in cars at a checkpoint on the road to the international airport, medics said.
An all-terrain vehicle sped towards the crowded checkpoint but was halted by US and Iraqi soldiers standing guard, said a woman who was hurt in the blast.
"The suicide bomber detonated his vehicle as they approached," Hiba Hamid told AFP from hospital.
The attack followed a string of deadly bombings across the country on Tuesday that killed at least eight people and injured dozens of others.
Seeking to undermine the US-backed government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and the US-led military, rebels, many loyal to the Islamic militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, have resorted to guerilla warfare, using bomb attacks and kidnappings.
In the latest hostage drama, a US-Lebanese man working for Iraq`s transport ministry was kidnapped overnight from his house in the smart Baghdad neighbourhood of Mansour.
"Masked gunmen burst into his house as he was entertaining two doctor friends. They made off with him alone," said a police official.
The US embassy had no immediate information on the abduction but a spokesman said it was checking the reports. In Beirut, the Lebanese foreign ministry also said it had no confirmation but was checking with its embassy in Baghdad.
It is the third time that kidnappers have snatched foreign civilians from their home in this area of the capital within the last six weeks, and it is the second such attack in just 48 hours.
Another five Jordanians including four truck drivers were also reported kidnapped in Iraq, while the Philippines confirmed that one of its nationals was taken along with a Nepalese and a US citizen and several Iraqis in Baghdad.
The abductors of British-Irish aid director Margaret Hassan issued a 48-hour deadline for British troops to leave Iraq or they would hand her over to Zarqawi`s followers.
Hassan`s employer CARE Australia urged the militants to free the 59-year-old Irish-born Iraqi citizen following the release of a new video showing her in a deeply distressed state.
Zarqawi`s group has been blamed for the bloodiest suicide attacks and hostage beheadings in Iraq.
Senior government figures have also fallen foul of the insurgency, with Hussein Ali al-Fatal, an Iraq`s oil ministry official, becomming the latest victim after unknown attackers gunned him down outside his home in southern Baghdad.
Fires raged near oil wells in northern Iraq after a string of blasts along pipelines on Tuesday. The attacks, however, had little immediate impact on world oil prices.
US and Iraqi officials are building up for an anticipated all-out offensive on the restive cities of Fallujah and nearby Ramadi, believed to be the nerve centre of the rebellion.
US war planes unleased two overnight raids on Fallujah, west of Bagdhad, but it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.
Thousands of residents have fled the Sunni Muslim bastion since the US military began a campaign of air strikes during the summer in the hunt for the Zarqawi and his followers who are believed to use the city as a base.
US ground troops have encircled Fallujah since mid-October, and Allawi issued an ultimatum to the city on Sunday to surrender insurgents holed up inside or face an all-out military assault.

11/03/2004 - 10:00 GMT - AFP