The police chief in the southern Iraqi city of Amara has been shot dead outside a mosque, a spokesman for British forces who patrol the area said this morning.
Hamid Haadi al-Ay'bi was killed at around noon local time yesterday, the Muslim holy day, in the city some 365 km southeast of Baghdad, Lieutenant Commander Richard Walters said.
"Both ourselves and the Iraqi police are investigating," he added. "We don't want to speculate about who was responsible."
Guerrillas have frequently targeted Iraqi police officers, seeing them as collaborators with US-led forces occupying Iraq. But southern Iraq has seen far fewer attacks than other parts of the country.
Guerrilla activity has been concentrated in Baghdad and Sunni Muslim dominated areas to its north and west, bastions of support for ousted president Saddam Hussein, himself a Sunni.
Shi'ite Muslims, who dominate the south, have been generally less hostile to the occupation as it ended years of repression under Saddam.