BAGHDAD, March 21 (Reuters) - Iraqi police detonated a huge truck bomb near the Finance Ministry in Baghdad on Wednesday in a controlled explosion that collapsed part of the main highway linking the north and south of the capital. The facade of the multi-storey ministry in Bab al-Muadham area in central Baghdad was also badly damaged in the blast, which police said wounded 12 people, including soldiers and policemen. The building was empty because it was a national holiday marking the first day of spring. Police said they discovered the truck bomb parked under the Mohammed al-Qassim highway just metres from the ministry building. The explosives were hidden under a pile of lettuces. They detonated the bomb in a controlled explosion but were apparently taken by surprise by the force of the blast, which reduced a section of the raised highway to rubble, punched holes in the ministry building and blew out its windows.
