(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Iraq at 8:30 a.m. EDT on Wednesday. * NEAR KIRKUK – A roadside bomb targeting a local council member near Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, wounded two of his bodyguards, police said.

AMMAN (Reuters) – Jordanian authorities on Wednesday released Jordanian Sheikh Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi, a leading al-Qaeda mentor, after several years imprisonment without trial, security sources said.

ALGIERS (Reuters) – Publicity, ransom money and damage to lucrative Maghreb tourism are the possible prizes for al-Qaeda’s north Africa wing from the kidnapping of two Austrian adventure holidaymakers.