A PHYSICIAN at al-Yarmouk hospital, who would not be named, said al-Hashimi was in critical condition with abdominal wounds.
Three of her body guards also were injured, according to a security guard at the al-Yarmouk facility.
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 U.S. military ambulance still unconscious, said the official who would not give his name.
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.
While at the al-Yarmouk facility, fellow council member Ahmad Chalabi arrived. He was joined by Health Minister Dr. Khudayer Abbas. Chalabi is council president for September.
Mohammed Abdul Ghany, a security official at al-Yarmouk Hospital, said the search for the attackers was under way.
"We will catch those responsible for this vicious crime,"" he said.
A policeman, also refusing to give his name, said the attack occurred outside al-Hashimi's home about 9 a.m.
An al-Hashimi neighbor, Khola Ibrahim, said she was in her kitchen when she "heard shooting, very heavy shooting."".
Another neighbor, 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.
"He looked in terrible condition,"" she said.
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DISRUPTING POLITICAL PROCESS .
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Al-Hashimi was preparing to leave for New York as part of the Iraqi delegation to the U.N. General Assembly next week in an attempt to assume Iraq's seat in the world body.
