Iraqi minister escapes shooting

Ms Burwari is the only woman in the interim Iraqi cabinet

Iraq's interim Public Works Minister Nisreen Mustafa al-Burwari has escaped an assassination attempt in northern Iraq, officials say.

Ms Burwari, a Kurd, was unhurt after gunmen opened fire on her convoy in Mosul, but at least two of her bodyguards were killed, police said.

She is the only woman in the cabinet, which was chosen by the US-appointed Governing Council.

Her ministry is one of four due to revert to Iraqi control by 1 April.

A spokeswoman for US-led forces in Baghdad, Kristi Clemens, told the Associated Press news agency that Ms Burwari was returning to Mosul from a meeting in the city of Dohuk when her convoy was attacked.

Iraqi police said the attack happened at around 1100 local time (0800 GMT) in al-Karama neighbourhood of Mosul.

Fatal attacks

She is one of five Kurdish ministers in the cabinet, which was appointed last September to serve as an interim administration until elections can be held.

Saro Qader, an official with Ms Burwari's Kurdistan Democratic Party, described the attack as an "assassination attempt".

Another female member of the governing council, Aqila al-Hashimi, was assassinated in September when gunmen fired on her convoy near her Baghdad home.

Earlier on Sunday, two civilians - one British and one Canadian - were shot dead on their way to work at a power station in Mosul.

Police said they were killed when masked men opened fire on a two-car convoy in which they were travelling.

In a separate incident in the city, an American military vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.