Guerillas kill leading Shi'ite cleric

Gunmen assassinated a leading Iraqi Shi'ite cleric as he drove to his central Baghdad mosque for prayers yesterday, one of three attacks targeting prominent Shi'ites in the capital within 24 hours. Sectarian violence has worsened since a Shi'ite- and...

Gunmen assassinated a leading Iraqi Shi'ite cleric as he drove to his central Baghdad mosque for prayers yesterday, one of three attacks targeting prominent Shi'ites in the capital within 24 hours.

Sectarian violence has worsened since a Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government took power two months ago, with guerillas from the Sunni Arab minority attacking Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari's administration and its US allies.

The gunmen made off after killing Kamal al-Din al-Ghoureify, a representative in Baghdad for Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani who is recognised as spiritual leader by many of Iraq's Shi'ite majority. Sunni Arabs held sway in Iraq under Saddam Hussein.

Police said two of the cleric's aides were wounded, but officials in Sistani's office said the pair were killed.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.