Ali al-Haidari, Governor of the Baghdad Governorate, is Assassinated by Armed Gunmen

Ali al-Haidari was the governor of the Baghdad Governorate in Iraq.

Al-Haidari had narrowly escaped being killed in an assassination attempt in early September 2004 in Baghdad, but he was assassinated by armed gunmen during a second attempt in Baghdad in early 2005.

Baghdad governor Ali al-Haidri has been assassinated in the capital, police and hospital sources say.

Details of al-Haidri's death on Tuesday remain unclear.

Al-Haidri is the most senior Iraqi official to be assassinated in Baghdad since the head of the Governing Council was killed by a bomb in May last year.

He had survived a previous assassination attempt in September.

Armed fighters have repeatedly targeted Iraqi officials as well as the country's fledgling security forces as part of a fierce effort to destabilise the US-backed interim government.