The White House and the United Nation's top official have denounced the attack on a member of Iraq's U.S.-backed governing council Saturday.

Aquila al-Hashimi is in critical condition in hospital under U.S. military guard. She suffered abdominal injuries after six gunmen in a truck chased her car.

Three of her bodyguards were also injured.

Aquila al-Hashimi

Three of her bodyguards were also injured.

A White House spokesperson called the attack tragic, and said it is part of a pattern where opponents are trying to overturn Iraq's progress toward democracy.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the attack will make it harder to establish an Iraqi political structure which can assume sovereignty of the country.

Police say the attackers first fired rocket-propelled grenades at al-Hashimi's car. When they missed, they opened fire with assault rifles.

Paul Bremer, the top U.S. official in Iraq, said he was "shocked and saddened" by the "horrific and cowardly act."

One of three women on the U.S.-backed governing council, al-Hashimi had been preparing to leave for a meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Members of the 25-seat council are going to the meeting to try to assume Iraq's seat at the UN.

Council president Ahmed Chalabi blamed the shootings on Saddam Hussein loyalists. In a statement, he said the council would not be intimidated

"They will continue to do their patriotic duty to move Iraq towards freedom, democracy and sovereignty," Chalabi said.

A Shiite Muslim, al-Hashimi holds a law degree and a doctorate in literature.