Governor among injured as 23 killed in bomb blasts

Staggered explosions killed 23 people – 13 of them policemen – and injured the governor of Anbar today, the worst violence in months to hit the western province as it struggles to stamp out the al Qaida insurgency.

Anbar is seen as strategically important because it was once the heartland of support for al Qaida militants before American officials paid Iraqi fighters to join a pro-government force.