The diplomat said Titorenko wanted to help in the evacuation of 10 Russian diplomats still in the Iraqi capital and assist a driver who was badly wounded when the ambassador's convoy came under fire.

Titorenko, who arrived Monday in Damascus, had been expected to fly on to Moscow.

An unidentified diplomatic source told the Interfax news agency in Moscow that the ambassador would be driving the wounded driver together with a Russian diplomat who had stayed to look after him to the Jordanian border.

Both the United States and Iraq had been informed of the route that the Russian ambassador was taking, the source added, saying no fighting was reported in the vicinity.

The diplomatic source also told Interfax that for the moment there were no plans to evacuate the remaining Russian diplomats in Baghdad because it was considered safer to leave them there.

The United States scrambled Tuesday to prevent its ties with Russia from deteriorating further over the weekend incident, offering high-level assurances that it took the matter extremely seriously and that a full investigation was underway.

Titorenko, who was slightly wounded in the incident along with four others, alleged that US forces had deliberately opened fire on his convoy as it left Baghdad.

According to eyewitness accounts, the convoy was caught in crossfire between US and Iraqi soldiers although it was not clear which side shot first.

The Russian envoy told the ITAR-TASS news agency on Monday that the convoy had not deviated from the agreed-upon time and route for departure and that US forces had deliberately shot at the vehicles.

Titorenko's account directly contradicted US suggestions that Iraq might have set up the attack by instructing the convoy's drivers to take a different route than had been agreed upon with US diplomats, in order to create an international incident.

SPACE.WIRE