BAGHDAD, July 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Gunmen kidnapped three sons of the governor of Iraq's Al-Anbar province in the flashpoint city of Ramadi west of Baghdad, Qatar-based al-Jazeera satellite channel reported Wednesday.

   Unidentified gunmen rushed into the governor's private home and kidnapped his sons aged between 15 and 30, and then set part of his home ablaze while Governor Abdul Karim Burghis al-Rawi was at work, the channel said.

   The police launched immediate investigation to determine thewhereabouts of the kidnappers, it added.

   Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, has been the bastion of insurgency against the US occupation of Iraq, but fighters have frequently targeted Iraqi security forces describing them as collaborators with occupation troops.

   Iraq has witnessed a spate of kidnappings, during which dozens of foreigners were taken hostage by militants demanding forces pullout or companies withdrawal.  Enditem