Local leader killed in Mosul ambush

Attackers opened fire on a car carrying two local council members in the Iraqi city of Mosul today, killing one and wounding the other, police said.

Insurgents also tried in vain to assassinate the police chief in a central Iraqi town.

In Baghdad, insurgents fired mortar shells at two police stations, injuring four people, including one policeman, Iraqi officials said. The attacks occurred shortly before the Iraqi Governing Council signed an interim constitution.

Guerrillas, believed to be loyalists of ousted leader Saddam Hussein or foreign fighters, have targeted Iraqi police and civilians working with the US led occupation.

In the northern city of Mosul, gunmen fled after firing on the car. Akram Mahmoud Nijim, a member of a local council, was killed and another councillor was wounded.

In Khaldiya, west of Baghdad, a bomb exploded under the car of the police chief, Ismail Turki, as he left his home this morning. His driver and a bodyguard were wounded, said a neighbour.