Gunmen assassinate top Iraqi Foreign Ministry official

Unidentified gunmen assassinated a top Iraqi Foreign Ministry official tonight as he stood outside his Baghdad home, police said.

Captain Talib Thamer said Jassim Mohammed Ghani, director-general of Iraq’s Foreign Ministry, was killed at about 9pm (5pm Irish time) in western Baghdad’s al-Kharijiyah district in a drive-by shooting.

Officials at the Foreign Ministry were not immediately available for comment.

Insurgents have been routinely targeting Iraqi government officials in a relentless campaign to derail the country’s post-war reconstruction efforts.