Iraqi police shot dead a Sunni cleric at a checkpoint north of Baghdad today.
The cleric, Karim Jassim Mohammed, 39, was killed while trying to pass through a checkpoint at the southern entrance to Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, said police Capt. Laith Mohammed.
The victim was the preacher of Samarra's al-Bukhari Mosque. Police did not immediately provide any details on what provoked the shooting.
Meanwhile, in Baghdad's Sadr City, gunmen shot dead a police sergeant as he drove to work, said police Lt. Laith Abdul-Aal.
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The killings come at a time of heightened sectarian tensions and rampant attacks on Iraq's security forces.
AP