Ramallah - A small bomb exploded in the car of Palestinian Attorney-General Ahmad Mughani as he drove away early Tuesday from his home in the central West Bank city of Ramallah, police said.

Police spokesman Adnan Damiri said the incident was under investigation and several suspect were being interrogated.

The small device, hidden in the boot of the car, blew up when Mughani started the engine. No one was hurt however and the explosion was believed to be more of a message to Mughani than a true attempt to kill him.

The attorney-general, close to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and a member of his Fatah party, is investigating several cases of suspected corruption committed by other high-ranking Fatah officials.

The explosion could have been meant as a warning by one of them, although police would not comment or give details of an investigation that was still ongoing.

Mughani also is not recognized as attorney-general by the radical Islamic Hamas movement ruling Gaza. He left the Strip after Hamas violently seized sole control of the Strip from its rival, Fatah, in June last year.

Since then, Hamas - which has been involved in a fierce power struggle with Fatah ever since it beat the secular party in January 2006 legislative elections - has appointed its own attorney-general in the Gaza Strip. (dpa)