And is this the kind of democratic dialogue we could expect from the nice Iraqi opposition groups the Whitehouse is courting?

BERLIN (Reuters) - German police said Tuesday two people had been injured and shots fired as four or five members of an obscure Iraqi opposition group occupied the Iraqi embassy in Berlin, taking hostages.

"Iraqi opposition members tried to force their way into the embassy and then there were shots from the embassy," a police spokesman told Reuters by telephone.

Another police spokesman at the scene said two people had been injured and said that the number of hostages taken at the embassy was believed to be less than 10, but among those held was thought to be the Iraqi ambassador.

The spokesman said police did not have any more information about the identity of the opposition group. He said German special forces had been informed about the incident.

A group calling itself the Democratic Iraqi Opposition of Germany issued a statement earlier in German saying it was launching a "peaceful and temporary" action to press its demands for an end to the rule of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.