TOKYO (AP) -- An official vehicle carrying Japan's acting ambassador to Iraq was hit by a bullet on Thursday in Baghdad, but there were no injuries, the Foreign Ministry said.

The bullet cracked the windshield when it hit the car of Satoshi Ashiki, temporary charge d'affaires, near the Japanese embassy in Baghdad, the ministry said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear whether the shot was a stray bullet or specifically aimed at the diplomat.

Ministry official Kimitake Nakamura, citing witness accounts, said a convoy behind Ashiki's car fired warning shots at a vehicle that was between them and the Japanese car.

"Judging from the circumstances when the bullet hit the car, it is unlikely that it was a terrorist attack aimed at us," Nakamura said.

Japan backed the U.S. invasion of Iraq and had provided troops for non-combat, humanitarian mission in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah. After Iraq's own government was installed, Tokyo withdrew the troops in July.

In November 2003, two Japanese diplomats were shot dead by unknown attackers while traveling in a car in northern Iraq.