CTV News has learned Canadian diplomats -- including the charge d'affaires in Iraq -- had a close call in Baghdad on Tuesday, coming under friendly fire from U.S. troops.

The soldiers opened fire on the vehicle after it reportedly wouldn't stop, apparently fearing a suicide car bombing.

None of the four passengers in the car -- which included Stewart Henderson, Canada's charge d'affaires in Iraq -- or its driver were injured.

CTV's Tom Clark, reporting from Washington, said official details from the Canadian government are sketchy.

But it appears from U.S. military and government sources in Washington and Iraq that the Canadian vehicle was travelling alone while a U.S. military convoy was on the road.

The car was travelling from the British residence to the Canadian one, "and as they were going along the road, so we're told, they came across an American military convoy," Clark said.

"They then tried to pass the convoy. This of course gives them the profile to soldiers of being suicide car bombers," he said.

Members of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division immediately started giving the car hand signals to stop, which didn't cause the car to stop, Clark said.

The soldiers then reportedly shot over the vehicle. That also failed. "Finally they plugged the car with three rounds. Two went through the hood into the engine block. One shot went through the lower part of the windshield," he said.

A U.S. official described this as a "very unfortunate incident," and said, "'chalk it up to inexperience on both sides,'" Clark said.

The incident happened in what's known as the Green Zone, a heavily fortified area in the centre of Baghdad where coalition and Iraqi government offices are located.

The Canadian ambassador to Iraq is John Holmes, who presented his credentials back in September. Holmes also serves as ambassador to Jordan, where he is based. Canada does not yet have an actual embassy in Iraq, having ended diplomatic relations with ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's regime in 1991.

Initial reports had Holmes in the car, but Canadian sources said that wasn't true.