[jQuery] jQuery selector question - Having ":" in attribute name

[naden]

I'm using jQuery 1.2.6 and having an <a> element with the attribute
ajax:id="46"

<a href="#" ajax:id="46">Test Link</a>

According to http://docs.jquery.com/Selectors/attributeEquals#attributevalue
you have to escape ":" with double backslash like I did.

alert( $( "a[ajax\\:id='46']" ).attr( 'href' ) );

I tried a lot, but it's not working?

Any hint would be appreciated!

thanks