Witnesses said the fighting broke out after an attack on a U.S. convoy, damaging some shops and houses. Meanwhile, a local government building in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi was hit Saturday by rocket-propelled grenades, and groups of armed men were seen roaming the streets of the city about 100 kilometres west of Baghdad. There were no immediate reports of casualties. In Qaim on the Syrian border, gunmen Saturday kidnapped Iraqi army Lt.-Col. Abdul-Razzak al-Salmani as he was driving in the city centre. His family was left unharmed. Also in Qaim, the bodies of two Iraqi National Guards were found with multiple bullet wounds, Dr. Haqqi Ismail al-Ani of the general hospital said. Brig.-Gen. Carter Ham, the U.S. general responsible for security in northern Iraq, said there were signs that insurgents were getting support from Iraqis who fled to Syria after Saddam's regime collapsed. "There are some indications, clearly, that the insurgency is receiving some support from former regime forces that are based in Syria," Ham told reporters in Baghdad. Iraqi officials also have complained that Syria has not cracked down on Iraqis supporting the insurgency from Syrian soil. Syria has shrugged off complaints, saying it was being made a scapegoat for U.S. failure to stop the uprising in Iraq. Some 14 million Iraq residents are eligible to vote for a 275-member legislature that will run the country, draft a permanent constitution and chose a president and prime minister. Another 1.2 million eligible Iraqi voters living abroad can cast ballots in 14 countries, including the United States, Iran, Syria, Britain and Sweden. A lot of attention likely will be focused on voter turnout. Clerics and politicians from Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority have threatened a boycott, citing security concerns. The country's long-oppressed Shiites, eager to win a share of power reflecting their status as the country's majority community, are expected to turn out in higher numbers. Some observers have warned that such a scenario could further divide the country along ethnic and religious lines. Baghdad University Vice-President Nihad Mohammed al-Rawi escaped an assassination attempt Saturday by gunmen who fired on his car in the city's Jadriyah neighbourhood, security officials said. One of his bodyguards was wounded, the officials said on condition of anonymity. In another development Saturday, the Defence Ministry confirmed a report in a major Arabic daily that an Iraqi woman trained by members of Saddam's regime in Syria tried to assassinate the defence minister but fainted before carrying out her mission. Al Hayat newspaper quoted Defence Minister Hazem Shaalan as saying the assassination attempt took place in his Baghdad office more than a week ago. Shaalan said the woman, who is about 40, entered the ministry claiming she wanted to deliver important security information. "As she was sitting in the presence of several officials from the ministry, she surprised everyone by taking out a pistol she was carrying and pointed it at me from a distance of about one metre but in the last moment she collapsed and started crying," he was quoted as saying. -Jayson Kayser.