U.S. Ambassador to Russia Alexander  Vershbow speaks to the media after visiting the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow  on Sunday, April 6, 2003. A convoy of  Russian diplomats came under fire Sunday while evacuating from Baghdad, the Kremlin said. The U.S. and Iraqi ambassadors were immediately called in to the Russian  Foreign Ministry. (AP Photo/Vladimir Suvorov, Gazeta)

MOSCOW - A convoy of Russian diplomats, including the ambassador, came under fire Sunday while leaving Baghdad, and several people were wounded, the Russian government said. The vehicles were caught in a crossfire between Iraqi and coalition forces, according to a witness. U.S. Central Command said it was investigating, but that no coalition forces were operating in the area at the time.  A Russian journalist who was in the convoy - heading northwest toward the Syrian border - said the vehicles had just passed Iraqi positions on the edge of Baghdad when they were caught in a crossfire.  The Iraqi positions came under heavy fire and responded with automatic weapons fire, Rossiya correspondent Alexander Minakov said on the state-run channel. The two dozen Russian diplomats and journalists were caught in the middle, he said.  Three diplomats were wounded, including one who received a serious stomach wound, said Minkaov, speaking from Iraq's border with Jordan, where he and several other journalists reached after the incident.  He said two bullets removed by Iraqi doctors from the diplomat's stomach came from an M-16, the U.S. assault rifle.  One bullet broke through the windshield of Ambassador Alexander Titorenko's vehicle and passed between him and his driver. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said the ambassador was not injured.

The Russian government did not say who it believed was behind the shooting. The Foreign Ministry called in both the American and Iraqi ambassadors to demand assurances for Russian citizens' security and an investigation into the attack. 

Yakovenko said early reports indicated four or five people were wounded but none of the injuries was life-threatening. 

Minakov said that after the shooting let up, the Russians treated the injured on the spot and prepared to move the eight-vehicle convoy further when a "huge column" of coalition armor passed in front of them. The Russians held out flags, hoping for help, but the column passed by, he said. 

The convoy stopped in the city of Falujah for the night and was expected to set out for Syria in the morning, Foreign Ministry spokesman Boris Malakhov said. 

Most staff of the Russian Embassy in Baghdad had long ago been evacuated, but a core team, including Ambassador Titorenko, had remained until Sunday. 

Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told The Associated Press that after notifying the United States in advance about the evacuation, the convoy of nine or 10 vehicles had safely passed coalition ground troops before being attacked "out in more open territory" west of Baghdad. 

"Somewhere after they got out past our main forces they were attacked. We don't know by whom or by how many," Pace said. 

Central Command later said initial field reports indicated no coalition forces were in the area at the time, and that the shooting was believed to have occurred in Iraqi-controlled territory. 

In Moscow, Ambassador Alexander Vershbow said the U.S. government was investigating the incident and trying to gather information from allied commanders in the area. Vershbow said the Americans would do their best to help the evacuation. 

Russia is opposed to the U.S.-led war against Iraq. However, President Vladimir Putin has attempted to adopt a softer tone in recent days, saying that a U.S. defeat would not be in Russia's interests and pledging continued cooperation with the United States. 

On Wednesday, Russia protested against American airstrikes that allegedly targeted a Baghdad neighborhood where the Russian Embassy was located. Russia did not report any casualties in connection with those strikes.