Gunmen kill Sadrist official in Iraq

Iraqi officials say gunmen have killed a senior aide to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the Shiite holy city of Najaf.

The officials say Riyadh al-Nouri was the director of al-Sadr's office in Najaf. He was shot to death as he drove home after attending Friday prayers in the nearby city of Kufa.

A policeman and an official in al-Sadr's Najaf office confirmed the killing but spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the information.

The anti-U.S. cleric has his headquarters in Najaf, but the shrines in that city are dominated by a rival Shiite group and most of his followers are concentrated in Kufa. AP News