Hashimi's condition is said to be serious

Additional Reporting By Sobhy Haddad, IOL Correspondent

BAGHDAD, September 20 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A woman member of the U.S.-appointed Iraq's interim Governing Council, Akila al-Hashimi, was shot and seriously wounded Saturday, September 20.

She was hit twice in the stomach, once in the shoulder and once in the leg outside her home in western Baghdad where she was with her driver and brother, Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted an Iraqi official as saying.

The driver was shot twice in the back, the official said, adding Hashimi's condition was serious.

The BBC News Online reported, quoting hospital officials, that three of her bodyguards had also been injured in the attack.

Eyewitnesses said Hashimi was taken to Baghdad's al-Yarmouk hospital and later moved in a U.S. military convoy to an American hospital in Baghdad airport.

AFP correspondent said that Khodeir Fadel Abbas, the Iraqi Health Minister in the cabinet appointed by the interim council, had accompanied the vehicle.

Hashimi's relatives told IslamOnline.net that unknown gunmen hurled a hand grenade and then opened automatic gunfire at her car and the bodyguards' jeep moments after she had left her house.

At least one or more suspects were arrested in the shooting which happened around 8:45 am (0445 GMT), the Iraqi official added.

Hashimi holds a doctorate in French literature and under ousted president Saddam Hussein worked in the public affairs department of the foreign ministry.

She was a member of the ousted Baathist Party and said to be close to former deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz.

On September 16, the Governing Council decided to send a delegation topped by Hashimi to the U.N. Security Council to attend debates on the new U.S.-sponsored Iraq resolution and hold talks with U.S. President George. W. Bush.

Fallujah Blast

A U.S. army soldier stands guard at the entrance of Yarmouk hospital .jpg.jpg

In another development, an explosion and an exchange of small arms gunfire struck the center of the hotspot of Fallujah, 60 kilometers from Baghdad, Saturday as hundreds of U.S. troops and vehicles were deployed to the town, witnesses said.

An AFP correspondent said the explosion was heard across Fallujah when it detonated at about 10:20 am (0620 GMT) and gunfire erupted immediately afterwards.

The explosion occurred shortly after the main highway and a second access route, both linking the capital to Fallujah, were re-opened after being cut by hundreds of U.S. troops and vehicles entering the city.

One witness said American troops blocked the exit and entry points to Fallujah at about 9:00 am Saturday (0500 GMT) and traffic had backed-up "for kilometers" heading into the town.

However, the witness said the roads were re-opened after 10:00 am as the American troop convoys divided into two lines and were deployed to separate U.S. bases on the southern and western perimeters of the city.

Another explosion went off outside a sports club belonging to the former Iraqi army in central Baghdad overnight, but it caused no injuries.

The blast, which sent up a large smoke cloud, was heard at about 8:55 pm Friday, September 19, (1655 GMT) on the north-south motorway that dissects the capital, and caused shockwaves that rattled windows across the city.

The sports club, used by officers of the former Iraqi army of deposed president Saddam Hussein, was empty at the time of the blast.

There were no injuries, but a passing taxi was damaged.

Three U.S. soldiers were killed and two wounded late Thursday, September 18, in an ambush near the Iraqi town of Tikrit, hours after 8 soldiers were reportedly killed in an attack on an American convoy in the town of Khaldiyah, west of Baghdad.