Baghdad, Jan 8, SPA -- Gunmen abducted a deputy governor of acentral Iraqi province and two other senior Iraqi officialsas they were heading for a meeting with Iraq's top Shiitecleric, authorities in Tikrit said Saturday. Khatan Hamada, a deputy governor of the Salahudinprovince, was leading the three-member delegation which wasstopped and kidnapped on Friday near Latifiyah, about 60kilometers (40 miles) south of Baghdad, said Hamad Hummoud,the Tikrit-based governor of Salahudin. They were to meet Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq'smost prominent Shiite leader, in the holy city of Najaf todiscuss national elections scheduled for Dec. 30. The head of the municipal council in Tikrit, Alial-Ghalib, and Dr. Amir al-Joubori, the dean assistant ofthe Law College of Tikrit University, were among thekidnapped, Hummoud said.--SPA1327 Local Time 1027 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/230840