Bomb wounds Iraqi councilor, kills 2 guards

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A bomb wounded a member of an Iraqi provincial council and killed two of his bodyguards in the city of Falluja on Sunday, in what police said was an assassination attempt.

Zeki al-Mohammedi, a member of the Anbar provincial council and head of the Falluja branch of the Iraqi Islamic Party, escaped with minor wounds when the bomb exploded inside the garage of his home, police said.

"His attackers must have been watching him because he had just stepped into his garage when the bomb went off," police officer Ahmed al-Jumaili said.

Mohammedi's son was also wounded.

Falluja, like much of western Anbar province, was once a heartland of the Sunni Arab insurgency against U.S. forces and Shi'ite-led governments in Baghdad, and also an al Qaeda haven.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack but an Iraqi Islamic Party member in Falluja, Abdul Razak Mohammed, blamed al Qaeda.

U.S. military officials routinely say al Qaeda is trying to make a comeback in Anbar after it was largely driven out by Sunni Arab tribes that allied themselves with American forces.

The attack comes ahead of provincial elections expected later this year or in early 2009.

Political tensions are rising in places like Anbar, where Sunni Arabs are expected to take part in greater numbers after largely boycotting the last local polls in 2005. The Iraqi Islamic Party is headed by Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi.

(Reporting by Aseel Kami; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Catherine Evans)