Gunmen kill interior ministry official in Baghdad

BAGHDAD - Gunmen shot dead a senior policeman who worked in the Iraqi interior ministry in Baghdad in a drive-by shooting on Tuesday, ministry sources said.

In an Internet statement, al Qaeda's wing in Iraq said it was behind the assassination of police Major General Ghazi Mohammed, who worked in the ministry's immigration department.

The group, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has claimed many of the bloodiest suicide attacks in Iraq and has assassinated several leading officials, including the head of the now-disbanded Governing Council, killed by a suicide car bomb last year.

Zarqawi's group has also killed dozens of hostages, including several foreigners. Often the hostages were beheaded, and their killing filmed and posted on the Internet.

The United States is offering a $25 million reward for information leading to the death or capture of Zarqawi. Iraq's government says his network is crumbling and the net is closing on him.

But in an Internet statement on Monday, the group said Zarqawi was safe and well, and vowed new attacks.

- REUTERS