A third British Muslim from a party of pilgrims whose minibus was ambushed in Iraq has died in a US military hospital.

Yahya Gulamali, 64, a businessman from Greenford, west London, died overnight from serious injuries to his spine and kidneys.

His friends Sefuddin Qutbi Makai, 42, a father of three from Streatham, south London, and Husain Mohammedali, 49, a businessman from Harrow, north-west London, were pronounced dead yesterday.

The Shia Muslim pilgrims, who worshipped at the Husaini Masjid mosque in Northolt, west London, were returning to Baghdad after a five-day tour of religious sites around Najaf and Karbala, when they were targeted by gunmen near a checkpoint in the Dora neighbourhood, notorious for ambushes.

Shabbir Abidali, a friend of the victims, said that Mr Gulamali had been transferred to the American Hospital in the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad for emergency treatment, but had died overnight.

Ali Asquar, 46, from Harrow, and Miss Zehra Jafferji, 69, from Wembley, north-west London, remained in hospital being treated for injuries they sustained as the bus was sprayed with machine gun fire.

The incident has highlighted the dangers faced by Shia Muslims who visit the holy sites of Iraq despite Foreign and Commonwealth Office warnings. The attack was fiercely condemned by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary.

At a press conference with the New Zealand minister of foreign affairs, Winston Peters, he said: "The news that a third British citizen has died from his wounds from the attack in Iraq is terrible - terrible for his family and for his community - and it is something which all of us condemn unreservedly.

"These people were British citizens. They happened to be on the most peaceful of all activities and the most honourable of all activities, namely making a pilgrimage.

"The deaths of British citizens, of anybody in any circumstances, is awful but it is all the more poignant given why they were in Iraq. We are in touch with the families and we will give all the support that we can."

An estimated 10,000 Britons make a religious pilgrimage to Iraq every year. Most visit the tomb of the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad in Karbala and the Prophet’s son-in-law in Najaf.

The group travelled to Iraq last Thursday, and had spent three days in Karbala and Najaf. They were ambushed as they were driven to Baghdad airport for the first leg of their return to Britain.

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