Shiite cleric gunned down in Baghdad

A Shiite Muslim cleric was killed in a Baghdad drive-by shooting while leaving his mosque, police said today.

Sheikh Shakir Hiriz al-Yasiri, 32, was killed at about 7.30pm local time yesterday as he stepped out of a mosque where he preached in eastern Baghdad’s Ma’amil district, said Capt. Mahir Hamad Musa.

Religious leaders have been routinely targeted in Iraq’s incessant conflict which has taken on worrying sectarian and religious overtones.