Gunmen kill Sistani aide in Iraq

The bomber did not get close to the Dawa Party building, but killed one

An aide to Iraqi Shia spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has been shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

Police said Kamal Eddin al-Ghuraifi was killed in his car as he headed to Friday prayers. Four of his bodyguards were wounded in the attack.

It is the latest in a series of attacks on politicians in the capital.

A BBC correspondent in Baghdad said the attack was clearly designed to provoke the Shia community.

Earlier, a suicide bomber attacked the Baghdad offices of the Shia Islamic Dawa Party - to which Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari belongs.

The prime minister was not there and the car bomber did not get close to the building, although he did kill one guard.

On Thursday evening, gunmen attacked a shop run by a cousin of another senior politician, Mouffaq al-Roubaie. The cousin was killed, along with one of his employees and three customers.

The unrest followed the release of figures showing that Iraqi deaths in attacks fell in June, following one of the bloodiest months since Saddam Hussein was toppled in April 2003, the AFP news agency reports.

However, the US death toll was higher, the agency said.

Death threat

Separately, Iraqi insurgent groups have issued a death threat against a former government minister - Ayham al-Sammarai - who has formed a new Sunni group seeking to act as a bridge between the insurgents and the government.

The group would include people with links to the insurgency, and the clear aim was to create a channel for dialogue between the government and the insurgents, Mr Sammarai said.

But three insurgent groups have reacted angrily, saying they have no links with Mr Sammarai's organisation, and adding they had decided to kill him because of his claim to be the "mouthpiece of the resistance".

The three groups also denied taking part in talks between insurgents and US officials - which a British newspaper has reported have taken place - vowing they would only talk to the occupation forces with what they called the "language of weapons".