Al-Hashimi was in critical condition with abdominal wounds, a doctor at al-Yarmouk hospital said on condition of anonymity. After surgery she was moved to an unspecified location in a convoy of American armoured vehicles and military ambulances.

Three of her bodyguards also were injured, said Mohammed Abdul Ghany, a security official at the al-Yarmouk hospital.

Members of al-Hashimi's security detail said the attack was carried out by men in two new SUVs. They fired rocket-propelled grenades that missed her car, then opened fire with Kalashnikov assault rifles.

A neighbour, Khola Ibrahim, said she was in her kitchen when she "heard shooting, very heavy shooting."

Another neighbour, Saba Adel, said al-Hashimi's brother - who acted as one of her bodyguards - knocked on her door crying out "My sister, my sister!"

Saba Adel said she saw another bodyguard lying on the sidewalk wounded in the arm and leg.

An Iraqi security official said al-Hashimi was brought to the hospital at about 10:30 a.m. and immediately was taken to surgery for a bullet wound in the left side of her abdomen.

She was then taken to an unknown location in a US military ambulance while still unconscious, said the official, who would not give his name.

Al-Hashimi is one of three women on the 25-member council. She was preparing to leave for New York as part of an Iraqi delegation that will attempt to assume Iraq's seat at the UN General Assembly.

Al-Hashimi is a Shiite Muslim and a career diplomat who led the Iraqi delegation to a donors' conference in New York this summer. She holds a degree in law and a doctorate in modern literature.