Iraqi deputy PM survives assassination bid

Iraqi deputy PM survives assassination bidBaghdad, Dec 31 - Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak Sunday survived an attempt on his life, Xinhua reported.

Al-Mutlak was participating in a protest in Anbar province, about 100 km from Baghdad, when the attack took place. Several of his bodyguards were wounded.

Protests against Shia Prime Minister Nouri Maliki have intensified since the arrests of bodyguards of Sunni Finance Minister Rafie al-Issawi last week.

Maliki's opponents accuse him of seeking to marginalize Sunni leaders.

The prime minister insisted that he did not order last Thursday's arrests and suggested that they were the result of a judicial probe. (IANS)