An Iraqi militant group with believed links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida claimed responsibility Friday for killing a senior aide to Ali al-Sistani, the most revered Shiite cleric in Iraq.

"With the help of God, a branch of Ansar al-Islam Group succeeded in killing Mahmoud al-Madaeni, an aide to the polytheist Sistani," said a statement posted on a website.

Al-Madaeni was killed along with his son and four bodyguards Wednesday night, when he finished prayers in a mosque and returned home in Salman Pak, an ancient town some 20 km south of Baghdad.

Iraq's Shiite majority have shown great restraint in face of the recent series of deadly attacks, which have killed and wounded more than 100 Shiite Muslims, including some high-profile figures.

The message justified the attack as it targeted a leading supporter of Iraq's election, due on Jan. 30.

The veteran Sunni group warned all Iraqis against participating in the election and said it will attack polling stations during the voting.

Emerging after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, Ansar al-Islam had been active in Iraq's Kurdish area before it was rooted out by US forces in the 2003 invasion to Iraq.

The al-Qaida network, however, regrouped in Iraq after the war, and as one of its offshoots, Ansar al-Sunna has been competing with another armed group led by bin Laden's representative in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Sistani, a key supporter of the landmark election, did not field any of his assistants to stand in the election, but endorsed a list of 228 candidates grouping a dozen of major Shiite parties.

While the Shiites are eager to see their benefit out of the coming election, Iraq's Sunni community is likely to boycott it, arguing the polls were "merely another game under occupation."

Source: Xinhua