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Iraq deputy PM al-Mutlaq survives convoy ambush Iraqi deputy PM al-Mutlaq convoy in clash with soldiers
(about 5 hours later)
An Iraqi deputy prime minister has survived an assassination attempt west of Baghdad, his office says. Guards protecting the convoy of the Iraqi deputy prime minister have reportedly been involved in a fire fight with soldiers.
Militants dressed as soldiers opened fire on a convoy carrying Saleh al-Mutlaq and other officials, triggering a shootout. The shoot-out came as Saleh al-Mutlaq was travelling to the Abu Ghraib area west of Baghdad.
One security guard was killed and three others wounded, a security source told BBC Arabic. The details of the clash are unclear. Earlier reports suggested the attackers were militants posing as soldiers.
The attack comes three weeks before Iraqis are due to head to polls in parliamentary elections. His office also told the BBC that, contrary to earlier reports, nobody was killed in the fighting.
Mr Mutlaq's party had been inspecting flood damage after an al Qaeda-linked group closed a dam in nearby Fallujah. The incident comes three weeks before Iraqis are due to head to the polls in parliamentary elections.
No group has said it carried out the attack. Islamist militants in Iraq have frequently targeted officials in an effort to undermine confidence in the Shia-led government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. Mr Mutlaq is a Sunni in the Shia-led government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.
Sunni politician Talal al-Zobaie said he had been accompanying the deputy prime minister, also a Sunni, and several other government officials on a visit to villages in the Abu Ghraib area at the time. Critic
After the shootout, the attackers fled the scene, he said. He was travelling with other officials into Anbar - Iraq's largest Sunni province - to inspect flood damage after militants shut off a dam in nearby Fallujah, a statement from Mr Mutlaq's office said.
Both Mr Zobaie and Mr Mutlaq have in the past called on Iraqi politicians to put aside their ethnic and religious differences and focus on protecting the nation. BBC Arabic was initially told the convoy was ambushed by a large group of gunmen - carrying automatic weapons - who tried to prevent it from leaving the area.
But later comments from his office said the gunmen were in fact Iraqi soldiers, and a source described the encounter as a "scuffle".
The reasons for the attack are not clear.
Mr Mutlaq has in the past been critical of the Iraqi government's policies in Anbar - where the government is fighting Sunni militants - and has called for reform of the army.
Also on Friday, a roadside bomb struck a minibus outside the northern city of Mosul, killing one civilian and wounding six.Also on Friday, a roadside bomb struck a minibus outside the northern city of Mosul, killing one civilian and wounding six.
Iraq has been enduring the worst unrest since it pulled back from the brink of civil war in 2008.Iraq has been enduring the worst unrest since it pulled back from the brink of civil war in 2008.
The election at the end of April will be the first since the US pulled out combat troops in 2011.The election at the end of April will be the first since the US pulled out combat troops in 2011.
More than 9,000 candidates will compete for 328 parliamentary seats, but there will be no voting in parts of Sunni-dominated Anbar province, where security forces still battle Islamist and tribal militants for control of the provincial capital Ramadi and nearly Fallujah.More than 9,000 candidates will compete for 328 parliamentary seats, but there will be no voting in parts of Sunni-dominated Anbar province, where security forces still battle Islamist and tribal militants for control of the provincial capital Ramadi and nearly Fallujah.