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.

The convoy was going to spend the night at Fallujah, 50 kilometersmiles) west of Baghdad, to tend to the wounded and would resume for Syria on Monday, the spokesman said.

The attack came a day before US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice was to meet with top Russian officials in Moscow for talks on Iraq, a US embassy spokesman told AFP.

The Russian foreign ministry summoned the US and Iraqi ambassadors to Moscow "urgently and in a harsh way" and demanded "they take all possible measures to ensure the security of Russian citizens," the spokesman said.

President Vladimir Putin has been informed of the incident, his spokesman Boris Gromov said.

A statement from the US Central Command said: "Based on the reported location, the incident is believed to have taken place in territory controlled by the Iraqi regime" and "initial reports" showed no presence of US-led coalition forces nearby.

Titorenko left Baghdad for Damascus early Sunday as US troops advanced on the Iraqi capital. He was due to fly to Moscow later Sunday.

A witness told Interfax news agency from Baghdad that around 23 people -- mostly Russian journalists -- were driving in the convoy, which he said came under attack twice.

"In Baghdad, everything went calmly. When we left the city, we saw that there was fighting up ahead, so we decided to turn around and eight kilometers from Baghdad, we came under fire. Several people were injured," the witness told Interfax.

"We bandaged the wounded, left a car behind and kept going. But then around 15 kilometers from Baghdad we came upon a jeep convoy," he said.

"We stopped so as not to provoke them and we sent a car ahead with a flag to show who we were, but then we came under fire again," he told Interfax.

"Two more people were hurt -- thank God no one was killed.

Russia, one of the most fervent opponents to the US-led war, had kept its Baghdad embassy operational with a skeleton staff after withdrawing all non-essential personnel in the days leading up to the start of the bombing campaign on March 20.

Russia protested loudly last week when the building was nearly hit by US bombs.

Monday's visit by Rice -- a fluent Russian speaker and arms control expert -- comes amid a new push by both sides to ease mounting tension over the US-led war in Iraq.

Interfax news agency reported that Rice would meet Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and Security Council chief Vladimir Rushailo.

SPACE.WIRE