BAGHDAD, July 1 (Xinhuanet) -- A senior official at Iraq's finance ministry was wounded Thursday in a roadside bombing that killed two of his companions and injured two others.

    The blast happened at about 8:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) in the district of Qadessya in the west of Baghdad when Ihsane Karim,a senior supervisor of the finance ministry, drove by on his way to work.

    The driver and Karim's assistant were killed on the spot, while Karim and two of his bodyguards were injured to different degrees.Karim suffered serious wounds in the head and leg and had been rushed to a hospital, hospital sources said.

    The blast area had been cordoned off. Enditem