Official gunned down outside Baghdad

A prominent official of the Iraqi Communist Party was gunned down with two of his bodyguards outside of Baghdad, a party official said today.

Sadoun Mohammed was returning home from the northern city of Kirkuk when armed men ambushed his car, opening fire yesterday evening, said party official Amar Abdul-Hussein.

Iraq’s Communist Party is part of the interim government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. Culture Minister Mufeed al-Jazaeri is a party member.

Banned and persecuted under Saddam Hussein, it has been critical of Allawi’s close ties with the United States.