¡¡¡¡BAGHDAD, Sept. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- A prominent Iraqi Shiite, official of the constitutional preparatory committee, has escaped an assassination attack, sources from the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) said Monday.

¡¡¡¡Jalal Din al-Saghir was targeted when he was driving back home in Baghdad on Sunday afternoon, the sources added.

¡¡¡¡The attack came days after Washington gave the US-backed governing council six months to prepare a draft constitution.

¡¡¡¡US administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer said the timeline should start from the formation of a constitutional assembly.

¡¡¡¡The preparatory committee, handpicked by the IGC in mid-August, is in charge of finding an effective way to write a new constitution.

¡¡¡¡Several Shiite figures have been targeted in recent weeks.

¡¡¡¡Akila al-Hashimi, one of the 13 IGC Shiite members, died of gunshots on Thursday, five days after she was gunned down by unknown assailers.

¡¡¡¡Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Baquer al-Hakim was killed along with 81 of his followers in a double-car bombing attack at the end of last month.

¡¡¡¡A week before, a gas cylinder connected with a detonator went off outside the house of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Saeed al-Hakim, killing three guards and injuring the Shiite leader. Enditem