Gunmen Kill Aide to Iraq's Most Influential Cleric; Car Bomb Explodes at Al-Jaafari Party Office

Summary

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BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Gunmen killed an aide to Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric and two bodyguards in a drive-by shooting outside a Baghdad mosque Friday -- an attack likely to stoke tensions between the Shiite majority and the Sunni minority, officials said.

Elsewhere in the capital, a car bomb exploded near a checkpoint outside offices of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's Islamic Dawa Party, killing one person and injuring at least four more, officials said. Al-Jaafari was not there at the time, party official Ayad al- Nedawi said.

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Gunmen Kill Aide to Iraq's Most Influential Cleric; Car Bomb Explodes at Al-Jaafari Party Office

Shiite cleric Kamal Ezz al-Deen al-Ghuraifi, an aide to leading Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, was shot as he was about to leave al-Doreen mosque after leading prayers, according to his son, Hamid Kamal. Police Lt. Thair Mahmoud confirmed the attack.

"Gunmen in a speeding car sprayed him with machine guns," Ma...

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