Balochistan official 'is killed'

Unidentified gunmen have killed the official spokesman for the provincial government of Balochistan province, police say.

The spokesman, Razi Bugti, was killed when gunmen opened fire on his vehicle before fleeing the scene.

A BBC correspondent says Mr Bugti is the most senior government official to be killed in the province since the insurgency began five years ago.

The rebels want more autonomy for the south-western province.

The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Pakistan says that Raziq Bugti was president of the left-leaning Baloch Students Organisation until the early 1970s.

He was also a member of National Awami Party (NAP) which formed the government in Balochistan until 1972.

After the government was ousted the following year by the government of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the start of a military operation in the province, he was among a large number of NAP leaders and workers who went into exile in Afghanistan.

In 2003, he made an unusual move to join the military-backed central government and used his long political experience to consolidate the provincial government.

He led the propaganda campaign against the slain tribal chief and politician, Nawab Akbar Bugti, as well as other nationalist insurgents.