BAGHDAD - Iraqi Interior Ministry officials said a senior official was assassinated in his home on Monday but said they had earlier misidentified the official.
They named the dead man as Major-General Adnan Midhish Kharagoli, an adviser to the defence minister.
He was killed along with his nephew when 10 gunmen burst into his Baghdad home.
Interior Ministry officials had earlier said the victim was Major-General Adnan Thabet, hours after he told the media that a hostage crisis was exaggerated.
"We made a mistake," said one of the officials, who declined to be named.
Such reports of an assassination could fuel sectarian tensions during a time of widespread violence and political uncertainty gripping Iraq.
The comments added to the confusion over reports of a hostage crisis in the town of Madaen, near Baghdad, and reinforced fears of a political vacuum.
- REUTERS
Iraq officials retract assassination statements
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