Iraqi Minister attacked in Baghdad is safe

Iraq's Environment Minister Narmin Othman escaped an assassination attempt when gunmen attacked her convoy north of Baghdad wounding three bodyguards, a police official said Tuesday.

The minister was attack Monday near the town of Adhaim some 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Baghdad, said police Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qader. Three of her bodyguards were wounded and some of the attackers were believed to have been killed, he said.

Othman belongs to President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, AP informs.

PUK official Jalal Jawhar told The Associated Press that Othman was on her way from the northern city of Sulaimaniyah to Baghdad when her motorcade was attacked. She returned to Sulaimaniyah following the shooting.

"This is a cowardly act that will not prevent me from carrying my duties," state-run television station Iraqiya quoted Othman, a Kurd, as saying.