Iraqi diplomat escapes shooting

An Iraqi diplomat has escaped unhurt after a drive-by shooting at close range in the Jordanian capital of Annan.

The Iraqi Commercial Counsellor, Rahim Taher, 45, was fired at outside his home as he left to take his son to school.

He said: "One of the two attackers pointed his gun at me and shot one bullet from a gun, but miraculously it missed me."

The gun was fitted with a silencer, he added, and the bullet cracked the window of his Mercedes.

The gunman and an accomplice fled in a purple Hyundai car.

The Jordanian Minister of Information, Nasser Lauzi, said: "We do not want to make too much of this incident until we catch those who carried out the attack.

"Until now, we are dealing with this as a normal security incident."

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

A spokesman at the Iraqi Embassy in Amman said the intention of the shooting had been to damage relations between the two countries.

"We believe that the assassination attempt is aimed at hurting Jordanian ties with Iraq," one embassy source said.

In December, Jordan expelled several Iraqi diplomats in retaliation for the execution of four Jordanians convicted of smuggling car parts in Iraq.

Jordan maintains ties with Iraq, its main trading partner and only oil provider.

President Saddam Hussein's Government has attempted to make amends by commuting death sentences on another prisoner found guilty of smuggling and offering to release still more from jail.

Iraq last week renewed the deal under which it supplies Jordan with oil. And next week, politicians from Jordan plan to visit Baghdad.