Mr Marco Biagi, a close aide to Italy's Labor Minister Mr Roberto Maroni, was shot and killed in the northern city of Bologna today, a ministry spokesman said.
Mr Biagi, a 51-year-old economist and law professor, was an advisor in the labor ministry.
He was gunned down outside his home in central Bologna at 8:35 p.m. (19:35 Irish time), police said.
Public prosecutor Mr Luigi Persico went to the scene of the crime shortly after the killing.
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Witnesses said Mr Biagi was lying in his blood next to his attache case.
AFP