Pro-government senior cleric shot dead in western Iran

Reuters: A senior cleric who was a member of a top government body was shot dead in a Kurdish-populated area on Thursday, the second such killing in less than a week, state media reported. TEHRAN (Reuters) – A senior cleric who was a member of a top government body was shot dead in a Kurdish-populated area on Thursday, the second such killing in less than a week, state media reported.

State television said Mohammad Sheikholeslam, a Sunni cleric who was a member of the Assembly of Experts, was shot dead as he left his home in Sanandaj, the main city in Kurdestan province. The station said the shooting was a "terrorist act".

On Saturday, a Sunni Muslim cleric who had backed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran's disputed June election was shot dead by unknown assailants in the same city.

The region, located on the border with Iraq, is the scene of frequent clashes between Kurdish guerrillas and Iranian security forces.

Like neighbouring Iraq and Turkey, Iran has a large Kurdish minority, mainly living in the country's northwest and west. Iran is a mainly Shi'ite Muslim country, but most Kurds are Sunni Muslims.

(Reporting by Hossein Jaseb)