Police chief shot dead in Iraqi Kurdistan

ARBIL, Iraq, Oct 23 (AFP) - The chief of police in the northern city of Arbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, colonel Taha Ahmad Omar, was shot dead on Saturday as he exited a mosque after dawn prayers, officials said.
The attack, which coincided with a double suicide car bombing against Iraqi police and national guards elsewhere in Iraq, was a rare flash of violence in the relatively peaceful Kurdish city, run by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
Unknown attackers opened fire on Omar, 51, said the head of police at the local KDP government, General Jamil Khodr.
"He was hit by eight bullets as he returned to his house after prayers," he said.
Fael Taufic, an official from the local interior ministry, accused "terrorist groups of this assassination."
The attackers wanted to "ruin the calm and security of this relatively peaceful region," he said.

10/23/2004 14:11 GMT - AFP