The blast struck the convoy carrying Mohammed Ali al-Hassani at about 9 a.m., killing him and three other people, a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Al-Hassani's office manager and two guards also were seriously wounded, police said.

Video: Mortar Attack Rocks Baghdad

On Aug. 11, the governor and police chief of another southern province, Qadasiyah, also were killed in a roadside bombing attack.

Both governors were members of the influential Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, a group led by Shiite politician Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim whose loyalists have been fighting the Mahdi Army militia for control of the oil-rich south.

Muthanna was the first province that was transferred to Iraqi control last year.

Al-Hassani, 52, was from a prominent clan in the area and had been governor for about two years despite several attempts by rivals in the provincial council to sack him.

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