Kabul: A high-ranking ministerial commission was set to begin a probe on July 7 into the assassination of Afghan Vice President Haji Abdul Qadir as his body was due to be returned to his Eastern stronghold for burial.

Qadir, one of three Vice Presidents and also Public Works Minister in President Hamid Karzai's transitional government, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen on July 6 as he was being driven out of his ministerial offices.

He is thought to have died immediately from bullet wounds while the assassins made their escape in a waiting car.

The killing of such a high-profile figure has thrown new doubts over Karzai's attempts to bring peace and stability to the war-torn country, which has just emerged from 23 years of conflict.

A government statement issued late on July 6 condemned what it called an act of terrorism and pledged that the ministerial team, which will be led by one of Qadir's fellow Vice Presidents, Karim Khalili, and Interior Minister Taj Mohammad Wardak, would provide regular updates into the hunt for the killers.

Prayers will be said in Kabul's main Eidgah mosque on July 7 before Qadir's body is taken to his home city of Jalalabad for burial at the family graveyard, the statement added.

Qadir, who first carved out a reputation as a mujahideen resistance commander against the Soviet Red Army in the 1980s, is thought to have built up a number of enemies over his controversial career.

Until recently governor of the main Eastern province of Jalalabad, he was one of the most powerful regional leaders in Afghanistan.