Iraqi senior official assassinated

A senior official of Iraq's foreign ministry was assassinated in Baghdad on Saturday, a ministry spokesman said.

According to the spokesman, the attackers opened fire at Bassam Kubba, director-general of the ministry, at al-Adhamiya northern neighborhood of Baghdad as he was heading to work.

The victim died in al-Nueman hospital of wounds sustained in the attack, the spokesman added.

During the Saddam Hussien's regime, Kubba was the ambassador of Iraq to the People's Republic of China at the end of 1990s.