BAQUBA, July 20: Four Iraqi veterinarians were killed and three wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in the path of their bus on Tuesday, while a senior official in Basra became the latest high- profile murder.

A policeman was gunned down near the restive city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, as guerillas continued a seemingly organized campaign to try to unseat the interim government. The minibus, carrying nine veterinary surgeons, hit the bomb in Ghalabia, 80 kilometres west of Baghdad, said Ali Ibrahim, head of the nearby Al Khalis hospital.

Three of the vets died on the spot and another en route to a hospital in Baquba, Mr Ibrahim said, adding that two others were in a serious condition and a fourth was only slightly hurt.

In the latest in a string of targeted individual killings, Hazem al Ainachi, a coordinator for the provincial council and a former deputy governor in Basra, 550 kilometres south of Baghdad, was killed in a hail of bullets.

"My father was killed as he was leaving home at about 8am when unknown gunmen fired at him from near a checkpoint that is 100 metres from our place," said his son, Issam al Ainachi. -AFP