Baghdad ? Iraq’s prime minister and his radical Shiite backers vowed Thursday to fight a bid by Sunni Arabs and Kurds to oust him, threatening to plunge the country into political turmoil, delay formation of a new government and undercut U.S. plans to begin withdrawing troops this year.

Meanwhile, gunmen attacked the disabled car of Iraq’s top Sunni politician, Adnan al-Dulaimi, killing one bodyguard and wounding five after al-Dulaimi sped away in another vehicle. It was not clear whether the assault was an assassination attempt, and the Sunni leader refused to blame anyone. Altogether, 39 people died Thursday in a new round of violence.

A coalition of Sunni, Kurdish and secular parties formally asked the Shiite bloc Thursday to withdraw its nomination of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari for another term. The prime minister’s adviser, Haider al-Ibadi, insisted the bloc would stick by its candidate.

Many Sunnis blame al-Jaafari for failing to rein in commandos of the Shiite-led Interior Ministry. And Kurds accuse al-Jaafari of dragging his heels on resolving their claims around the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

Al-Jaafari won the nomination by a single vote during an election Feb. 12 among Shiite lawmakers who won seats in the Dec. 15 parliamentary election. He defeated Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi in large part because of the support of radical, anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Iraqi army soldiers inspect the burnt out car of Iraqi Accordance Front head Adnan al-Dulaimi, in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, March 2, 2006. Gunmen attacked the car of a top Sunni political leader, Thursday, killing one bodyguard and wounding five. Adnan al-Dulaimi, a leader of the Sunni's largest parliamentary bloc, had already sped away in another car after his vehicle was stopped by a flat tire.

The idea of a prime minister who owes his position to the young radical has alarmed not only Sunni Arabs and Kurds, but also several key figures in the Shiite alliance.

After the attack on his vehicle, al-Dulaimi, leader of the largest Sunni parliamentary bloc, called for restraint to blunt the spiraling sectarian violence that has taken about 500 lives since Feb. 22, when a Shiite shrine was bombed in Samarra.

“I don’t accuse anyone. … I consider it accidental, and I call on my brothers for self-restraint and to contain what happened because Iraq is bigger than Adnan and his guards,” al-Dulaimi said.

Not long after gunmen hit Adnan al-Dulaimi’s convoy Thursday, other attackers shot up cars carrying security men assigned to his fellow Sunni tribesman, Defense Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi. One bodyguard was killed and five were wounded.

U.S. deaths

The military reported a U.S. soldier was killed during combat in insurgency-ridden Anbar province Wednesday, raising to 2,296 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the war began, according to an Associated Press count.