An Iraqi lawmaker says the country's deputy prime minister escaped an assassination attempt in which militants dressed as soldiers opened fire at his convoy west of Baghdad.
Lawmaker Talal al-Zobaie says he accompanied Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq and several other officials on a visit to villages in the Abu Graib area today.
Al-Zobaie says attackers in military uniform and driving military vehicles opened fire at their convoy, triggering a shootout with guards and soldiers protecting al-Mutlaq.
Three of al-Mutlaq's guards were wounded in the shootout. The attackers fled the scene.
The officials were inspecting flood damages after militants who control the nearby city of Fallujah shut off a water dam.
The attack was the latest in Iraq as the country heads toward crucial parliamentary elections on April 30.
