Blasts near Iraq ministry as US official visits

Baghdad: Two blasts struck outside Iraq's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday as visiting US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte prepared to hold a press conference in the Green Zone compound nearby, reporters.

Police said two mortars had struck in the area, wounding five civilians.

The Foreign Ministry building is adjacent to the fortified Green Zone government and diplomatic compound, where journalists were assembled for a news conference by Negroponte and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari.

Further details are not yet known.