United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned on Saturday Israel's assassination ofthe new leader of Palestinian militant group of Hamas and called on Israel to put an end to such extrajudicial killings.

Abdelazia Rantisi was seriously wounded in an Israeli missile attack Saturday night and later died in a hospital.

Annan "reiterates that extrajudicial killings are violations ofinternational law and calls on the government of Israel to immediately end this practice," said a statement from his spokesman's office.

The secretary-general "is apprehensive that such an action would lead to further deterioration of an already distressing and fragile situation," it said.

The only way to halt an escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian violence is to "work towards a viable negotiating process aimed ata just, lasting and comprehensive settlement" on the basis of the roadmap peace plan, it added.

Rantisi took over the leadership of Hamas after the group's founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was killed on March 22 in a similar Israeli attack. Rantisi's slaying has drawn wide condemnations.

Source: Xinhua