Polish ex-minister shot dead

Mr Debski was found by a passer-by on a Warsaw street

Jacek Debski, a former sports minister in the Polish Government has died, after being shot in the head on a Warsaw street.

Mr Debski was found in the city's Praga district by a passer-by and taken to hospital, where he was declared dead at 0400 local time.

Jacek Debski: Refused to name blackmailer

Police say an unknown assailant shot Mr Debski with a pistol after he left an Italian restaurant, the Cosa Nostra, where he had been dining with friends.

Mr Debski was sports minister from 1997 until early 2000 but was sacked after he said he was being blackmailed for information about the current Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski.

Mr Kwasniewski had served as sports minister during the 1980s under the communist regime and the ministry is alleged to have undertaken shady financial dealings during his tenure.

"I was told... Unless you find 'dirt' on Kwasniewski, we'll find 'dirt' on you," Mr Debski told the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper last year.

But Mr Debski always refused to name his blackmailer.

The Warsaw prosecution service says Mr Debski's death will not affect its investigations into the blackmail case.

Speculation on the cause of Mr Debski's murder is focusing on big business interests within Polish sport and on Mr Debski's private life.