Gunmen kill aide to Iraq Shi’ite cleric Sistani

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Gunmen killed a prominent Baghdadcleric linked to Iraq’s top Shi’ite spiritual leader AyatollahAli al-Sistani, shooting him and two of his aides as he went toFriday prayers at his mosque in central Baghdad.

Police and officials in Sistani’s organization said Kamalal-Din al-Ghoureify was a representative for Sistani in thecapital. The gunmen made off.

Sistani, based in the holy city of Najaf, is widelyrecognized as spiritual leader by much of Iraq’s Shi’itemajority, which is now enjoying power after decades ofoppression under Saddam Hussein.

Insurgents from the Sunni minority and foreign Islamistradicals have been accused of targeting Shi’ite leaders.

A suicide car bomber killed a bystander on Friday at ahouse in Baghdad used as an office by Prime Minister IbrahimJaafari, a Shi’ite.

On Thursday, an uncle and a cousin of another prominentShi’ite politician, national security adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, were shot dead in their shop in Baghdad with four otherpeople, police and officials in Rubaie’s service said.

Optician Taher Kadhem al-Rubaie was the politician’s uncle.His son Qusay also died.