Gunmen killed a prominent Baghdad cleric linked to Iraq's top Shia spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani today.
Kamal al-Din al-Ghoureify and two of his aides were shot dead as they went to Friday prayers at Sisatni’s mosque.
Sistani's organisation confirmed Mr al-Ghoureify was a representative for Sistani in the capital. The moderate cleric, based in the holy city of Najaf, is widely recognised as spiritual leader by much of Iraq's Shia majority.
Shias are the biggest religious group in Iraq and have the largest representation in government after decades of oppression under Saddam Hussein.
Insurgents from the Sunni minority and foreign Islamist radicals have been accused of targeting Shia leaders.
Elsewhere, a suicide car bomber killed a bystander at a house in Baghdad used as an office by Shia Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari.
Yesterday, an uncle and a cousin of another prominent Shia politician, national security adviser Mowaffaq al- Rubaie, were shot dead in their shop in Baghdad with four other people.