Iraqi candidate assassinated: officials

A Shi'ite candidate for provincial elections was assassinated while campaigning south of Baghdad, officials said. The killing of Hashim al-Husseini highlighted fears that political rivalries will lead to a spike in violence ahead of the Jan 31 vote for local councils. Al-Husseini was a member of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa Party and was running on the party's State of Law list for a seat on the Babil provincial council. The gunmen opened fire at about 4 pm in the Jbala area near Hillah, killing the candidate and wounding four of his guards, police spokesman Capt Muthanna Khalid said. He said al-Husseini, the head of the area's municipal council, had spent the afternoon talking to people at a cafe, shaking hands with shop owners at a nearby market and meeting with prominent local figures. Fellow candidate Osama al-Khafaji said the party had been concerned about harassment or verbal threats in the run-up to the elections. "We are afraid that today's killing will not be the last," al-Khafaji said.