"This type of claim absolutely does not and cannot correspond with reality," Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said in a statement.

The speaker of the Lebanese parliament Nabih Berri suggested earlier Wednesday that Saddam could have found refuge in Russia's Baghdad embassy, as US forces took control of the Iraqi capital.

"Saddam Hussein could have found refuge in the Russian embassy in Baghdad," Berri told journalists, without elaborating.

"This is just another attempt to put our Baghdad embassy under threat," Yakovenko said.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov urged his US counterpart Colin Powell in telephone talks Wednesday to ensure the safety of Russian diplomats in Baghdad, three days after a convoy carrying the Russian ambassador to Iraq came under fire as it headed out of Baghdad towards Syria.

"We again underlined the need to ensure the safety of Russian embassy workers in Baghdad," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Russian ambassador to Iraq Vladimir Titorenko has accused US forces of deliberately shooting at the convoy, which was also carrying around two dozen embassy staff members and journalists.

"Any attack against our embassy will be considered as a serious violation of the Vienna convention on diplomatic priveldge and immunity," Yakovenko said.

Berri used the incident to back up his claim that Saddam could be hiding in the Russian mission.

He pointed out that Titorenko had returned to Baghdad from Syria -- allegedly to bring out an embassy driver wounded in the incident and a diplomat who stayed to look after him -- following the visit to Moscow Sunday by US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.

Rumors circulated ahead of the start of the US-led war in Iraq last month that Russia was helping negotiate a deal with Saddam, offering him exile in Russia if he agreed to step down from power to avert war.

SPACE.WIRE