BAGHDAD, Iraq – Gunmen ambushed two more top diplomats from Muslim countries yesterday in apparent kidnap bids that seemed aimed at scaring off foreign governments and isolating Iraq from the Arab world. Pakistan responded by announcing the withdrawal of its ambassador.

The attacks, targeting diplomats from Bahrain as well as Pakistan, came three days after gunmen seized Egypt’s top envoy to Iraq as he was buying a newspaper in the capital. The Egyptian envoy is still being held.

Insurgents were pursuing diplomats to sow a climate of fear and “scare the other diplomatic missions so that they won’t expand their presence in Iraq,” an Iraqi government spokesman, Laith Kuba, told reporters.

“This is a message from the terrorists to the Arab countries not to open embassies in Iraq and to prevent security, economic, and political overtures to Iraq,” a member of the parliamentary foreign relations committee, Abbas al-Bayati, said.

Also yesterday, an American soldier was killed and two were wounded by a roadside bomb northeast of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

Bahrain’s top envoy in Iraq, Hassan Malallah al-Ansari, was slightly wounded as he drove to work in the Mansour district, hospital and Bahraini officials said. Bahraini officials said they believed it was a kidnap attempt.

The Pakistani Ambassador Mohammed Younis Khan escaped injury later yesterday when gunmen in two cars fired on his convoy in a kidnap attempt in the same district, security officials said.

Both envoys were to leave the country temporarily after the attacks, their governments said.

“Our escort fired back at them so we were able to escape without any harm,” Mr. Khan told the AP. Mr. Khan, named ambassador earlier this year, said he believed one of the attackers’ cars was hit by gunfire from his bodyguards, but was not sure if any of the men were wounded.

A Web statement yesterday claimed responsibility in the name of Al Qaeda in Iraq for the kidnapping of Egyptian diplomat Ihab al-Sharif. It marked the first time the group, headed by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for kidnapping a diplomat. Al Qaeda in Iraq, considered one of the most fearsome militant groups in the country, has killed several foreign civilians and contractors that it abducted in the past, often releasing gruesome videos showing beheadings.

The statement made no threat to kill the diplomat and did not present any demands. It said only that further information would be released later. It could not be verified but was signed “Abu Maysara al-Iraqi,” the name used on all claims by Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Last month, Egypt became the first Arab nation to respond to American calls for Iraq’s neighbors to upgrade their diplomatic missions in Baghdad. Pakistan and Bahrain are among America’s closest allies in the Muslim world and in the global campaign against terrorism.

Two Russian Embassy cars came under fire on the Baghdad airport road Sunday, the Interfax news agency reported in Moscow. Interfax quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko as saying the gunfire “was not aimed specifically at the Russian Embassy cars, but was scattered.”

The diplomat attacks occurred as Iraq’s government made overtures to Sunni Arabs, who largely boycotted the January 30 election and who form the backbone of the insurgency.

The mostly Shiite and Kurdish committee drafting a new constitution accepted 15 Sunni members yesterday after weeks of haggling. And a prominent Sunni group called on its supporters Monday to take part in future elections.

Sunni participation in preparing the new constitution is considered essential in undermining support for the insurgents. Sunnis form about 20% of Iraq’s 26 million people but are the majority Muslim sect throughout the Arab world.

Iraq also must win widespread acceptance among its Islamic neighbors to develop as a stable and prosperous society. About a dozen Arab and other Middle Eastern countries maintain diplomatic relations with Iraq, although relatively junior diplomats lead most missions. Arab governments have been reluctant to upgrade representation, fearing that would be seen as an endorsement of the American military presence, widely opposed in the Middle East.