BAGHDAD (AFP) -Bahrain”s top diplomat in Iraq was wounded in an ambush and the Pakistani ambassador narrowly escaped assassination, as insurgents targeted Muslim envoys in an apparently new tactic.

Three days after the abduction of Egypt”s top envoy, the Iraqi government spokesman Tuesday said the attacks were &#34a message of terror&#34 to dissuade governments from expanding ties with the country.

Pakistan said it was moving its ambassador, Younis Khan, to Amman.

The attack on Khan happened as two cars came up from behind and fired on his vehicle near his residence in the capital”s central Mansur district.

&#34I am safe, but it was a very narrow escape,&#34 Khan said. &#34We sped out of danger but it was an extremely dangerous situation.&#34

Khan said his guards shot one of the attackers.

Also in the Mansur district, gunmen in a pickup truck shot Hassan al-Ansari, the Bahraini charge d”affaires, while he was travelling in his car with diplomatic license plates, an interior ministry source said.

Ansari was treated at Yarmuk hospital and released. Witnesses said he was ambushed by at least eight gunmen after leaving home.

Neither the rich Gulf kingdom of Bahrain nor Pakistan have contributed troops to the US-led coalition in Iraq, though Bahrain is home to a large US naval base.

Arab League chief Amr Mussa said &#34security threats to Arab diplomats in Baghdad — whether it be by way kidnapping as happened to the Egyptian diplomat or by targeting the Bahraini envoy — only serve the interests of those trying to sever links between the Arab world and Iraq.&#34

He called on the abductors of Ihab al-Sharif to release him.

Al-Arabiya television later reported that the group of Al-Qaeda”s frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed Sharif”s abduction but made no demands.

In a voice message Wednesday attributed to Zarqawi, he vowed to continue his &#34holy war&#34 in the country and lashed out at contacts between some rebels and US officials.

&#34The enemy is experiencing its worst days on the earth of Mesopotamia, at a time when a member of the US Congress has said that the United States are losing the war in Iraq,&#34 said the voice message on an Internet site, without giving further explanations.

&#34Some people want to stop our jihad (holy war) in Mesopotamia,&#34 the voice said, referring to the contacts that Washington has confirmed have taken place between insurgents in Iraq and US officials.

It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the message.

The voice also hit out at some Islamist ideologues, like his ex mentor Abu Mohamad al-Madqissi, who have slammed the insurgency for targeting Iraqis as well as the international forces based in Iraq.

&#34Some people have made a classification that is new for the jihad in Iraq by dividing the resistance into two categories: an honourable resistance that fights the infidel occupiers and a dishonourable resistance that fights Iraqis whoever they are.

&#34For how long are the clerics going to keep their distance from the jihad only giving opinions and advice, without knowing the reality that the nation is going through?&#34 said the voice.

For his part, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan sharply condemned attacks on diplomats in Iraq.

In a statement released by his office, Annan said he was &#34deeply dismayed&#34 by the recent rash of attacks, which he &#34vehemently condemns.&#34

&#34There can be no justification for the targeting of diplomats. As with earlier attacks against the United Nations and other international actors in Iraq, the secretary general hopes these latest attacks will not weaken the resolve of the international community to stand with the Iraqi people at this critical juncture in their history,&#34 Annan”s office said.

In August 2003, the UN special representative for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello died in his office in Baghdad after a bomber detonated a truck bomb outside the UN compound in the city. The bomb also claimed the lives of 21 other UN workers.

Sharif was set to become the first ambassador from an Arab nation to Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein and was the first head of mission to be abducted since Iraq”s hostage crisis began more than 13 months ago.

The Iraqi government”s spokesman said Sharif”s security may have been compromised by contacts he may have had with political groups with ties to insurgents.

&#34The only advice we give is that if a diplomat from this mission or another wants to contact political groups that may be close to armed groups then the least he can do is tell the government which can bear some responsibility,&#34 Leith Kubba said.

&#34We do not know the circumstances (surrounding Sharif”s kidnapping) but this is one of the possibilities.&#34

Kubba said the targeting of foreign diplomats is part of an effort by insurgents to discourage countries from dealing with the Iraqi government.

&#34It is a message of terror to other diplomatic missions not to expand their presence in Iraq,&#34 he said. &#34No doubt it is negative and we condemn it, but in the big scheme of things it will not affect our progress.&#34

Insurgents briefly held another Egyptian diplomat in July 2004 and also kidnapped an Iranian envoy, but both were later released unharmed.

Meanwhile, 15 Iraqis were killed in various parts of the country, including four women employed at Baghdad airport when the minibus taking them to work was attacked in the western part of the capital, an interior ministry source said. Another three were wounded.

And a US soldier was killed and two others wounded by a homemade bomb in Diyala province, north of Baghdad, the army said.

Switzerland”s foreign minister, meanwhile, summoned the US ambassador to explain the death in Baghdad of an Iraqi Kurd with Swiss nationality who was shot by an American soldier last week.