Najaf (Iraq): Iraqi police lifted the curfew in the central shrine city of Najaf which they imposed after gunmen shot dead a senior leader of the movement of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

The curfew was lifted at 6:00 am (0830 IST) today, a day after it was imposed for an indefinite period, Najaf police chief Major General Abdel Karim Mustafa said.

"People have started to go to work. The situation is calm," Mustafa said.

Yesterday, gunmen shot dead Riyad al-Nuri, director of the Sadr movement's office in Najaf, as he was returning from the main weekly Muslim prayers.

Nuri was a senior leader of the cleric's movement. His sister was married to Sadr's brother Murtada who was killed in 1999.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has ordered an investigation into the assassination which came as fighters from Sadr's Mahdi Army militia were engaged in deadly clashes with Iraqi and US forces in the capital.

Around 90 people have been killed in the fighting in the militia's Baghdad bastion of Sadr City since last Sunday.

Sadr has called for three days of mourning in all the movement's offices and a symbolic funeral procession for Nuri in Baghdad.

Mustafa said Najaf police has formed "three security committees to probe Nuri's assassination." 
Source : PTI