Baghdad: Three aides to Iraq's top Shiite cleric escaped assassination in separate attacks in southern Iraq, although two of them were seriously wounded, police said. Gunmen ambushed a vehicle carrying Sheik Ali al-Fudhaili, seriously wounding him and killing his driver yesterday in the oil-rich city of Basra, police said.

Another attack in Basra later targeted Sheik Ali al-Khafaji, who was seriously wounded when four gunmen opened fire as he was leaving the mosque after evening prayers, police said. Al-Khafaji was abducted two months ago in Basra but freed by police. Gunmen also fired on the car of Habib Salman al-Khatib in the Shiite city of Kut.

Al-Khatib was not injured but one of his guards was wounded in subsequent clashes, police said. The police officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to disclose the information. The three clerics are representatives of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Officials in al-Sistani's office in the holy city of Najaf declined to comment on the attacks. But they came four days after a top aide of militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr was assassinated in Najaf, suggesting the violence could be part of an internal Shiite power struggle. Riyadh al-Nouri, director of al-Sadr's office in Najaf, was gunned down Friday near his home after returning from prayer services. Several other followers of both clerics have been targeted in the past.

Source : PTI