Russian ambassador Baghdad comes under attack

MOSCOW (AFP) - Several people were injured when the convoy evacuating the Russian ambassador to Iraq (news - web sites) out of Baghdad came under fire, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

It was not yet clear who was responsible for the attack, the spokesman said. US Central Command in Qatar said that Iraqi forces controlled the area where the incident took place.

A Jordan-based diplomat, quoting Russian sources, told AFP in Amman that ambassador Vladimir Titorenko was injured in the attack.

The spokesman in Moscow, however, could not confirm if Titorenko was hurt, but said "at least four or five" people were injured.

"The car convoy with members of the Russian embassy in Iraq, including the ambassador, came under attack leaving Baghdad in the direction of the Syrian border," the Russian ministry spokesman told AFP.

 

now it looks like maybe this was an iraqi attack...happened in an iraqi controlled area(we`ll see who wins the p.r. battle on this one-the jury is still out)....also,it looks like the russkies are chest deep in helping iraq prior to and during the war....found brand spanking new russian surface to air missiles freshly packed in fiber glass at an overrun iraqi weapons depot....and 2 top russian generals whose specialty was air defense reportedly just left baghdad 6 days prior to the war...apparently their plans haven`t worked very well....