Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov's convoy was attacked late on Sunday when he was paying a surprise visit to southern Iraq, the defense ministry said Monday.

No one was hurt in the attack and the president returned to Bulgaria in the early hours of Monday morning, spokeswoman for theDefense Ministry Rumiana Strugarova said.

Unidentified gunmen had opened fire to the convoy for about five minutes when the president was traveling between the camps ofBulgarian and Polish troops in Kerbala, where Iraqi Shiite militants have fought against US-led forces for several weeks, shesaid.

Parvanov made his short visit to Iraq on Sunday. During the unannounced trip, he met with Bulgarian troops in Kerlbara and held brief talks with US civil governor in Iraq Paul Bremer and Commander of US forces Gen. Ricardo Sanchez.

About 500 Bulgarian soldiers are now deployed in Kerbala.

One Bulgarian soldier was killed and four others injured on Friday in a conflict in Kerbala.

On Dec. 27, last year, five Bulgarian soldiers died and 26 others were injured in a car bomb attack.

Source: Xinhua