Iraq's finance minister, who has been locked in dispute with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, escaped an apparent assassination attempt on Sunday when his convoy was struck by a roadside bomb. 

Rafa al-Essawi's convoy had been travelling between the towns of Fallujah and Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, when the bomb went off at around 7:00 pm (2130 IST), two security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. 

No one in Essawi's entourage was harmed but some of the vehicles were damaged, the officials said. 

The blast comes amid a political crisis. Weeks of anti-government demonstrations in Sunni Arab majority areas have hardened opposition against the Shiite premier. 

Maliki is at loggerheads with his erstwhile government partners in the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc over its accusations of authoritarianism and sectarianism in the run-up to key provincial polls.