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The European Union’s representative in Iraq survived a triple roadside bomb attack on his convoy yesterday. A Polish security guard and two Iraqi bystanders were killed.

Up to 14 other people, including three Polish guards, were injured in the co-ordinated blasts that tore through a busy commercial street in the heart of the Iraqi capital yesterday.

The blasts struck a convoy carrying General Edward Pietrzyk, the Polish Ambassador, who is also the EU Presidency’s representative in Baghdad. Polish guards returned fire as the Ambassador was pulled out of the burning vehicle.

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General Pietrzyk, 57, who was formerly commander of land forces in Poland, was appointed envoy to Iraq in April. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the Polish Prime Minister, moved quickly to reaffirm his country’s commitment to Iraq, saying that Poland would not withdraw its 1,000-strong troop contingent despite the attack.

“Desertion is always the worst option,” Mr Kaczynski said. “This is a difficult situation, but those who became engaged and were there for years and then withdraw are making the worst possible mistake.”

Poland, however, plans to move its Embassy inside Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone from its current location in the central Karrada district, a few hundred metres from where the mid-morning attack occurred.

Ilkka Uusitalo, the head of the European Commission’s Iraq delegation, said: “This attack is also a sign of violence against the EU and the European values.”

The Polish Ambassador had been travelling down al-Arasaat Street when the bombs exploded in sequence, punching deep holes in the road. The three-vehicle convoy was engulfed in flames and the glass fronts of nearby shops and other businesses were shattered.

Within minutes, Iraqi police and army as well as US forces were at the scene, checking buildings for possible snipers and sealing off the road.

The US Embassy dispatched a Blackwater helicopter to help to evacuate the wounded, including General Pietrzyk, who was treated for burns at a hospital inside the Green Zone and later flown to Poland. “He is going to be fine,” said the Deputy Ambassador, Waldemar Figaj.

Bo Eric Weber, the Danish Ambassador, said: “It is a cowardly act by terrorists . . . It is an act which could happen to any one of us at any time.” Denmark’s Embassy is inside the Green Zone but Mr Weber often visits colleagues and Iraqi officials elsewhere in Baghdad.

Diplomats typically travel around the city in three-vehicle convoys for security reasons, but the added protection also raises their profile. The US security company Blackwater is at the centre of a row that revolves around the shooting to death of 11 Iraqi civilians during a mission to transport American diplomats across the capital following a car bomb last month.

Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, increased pressure yesterday on the embattled company, which protects the US Embassy, to leave the country.

Poland has been a key ally of the United States, contributing combat troops to the 2003 invasion and subsequently heading a division south of Baghdad. Last year, the Polish Government extended its mission in Iraq until the end of 2007, leaving a decision on further extensions until then.

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