Iranian Diplomat Murdered in Baghdad

An Iranian diplomat was today assassinated in Baghdad in a gun attack on his car near the Iranian embassy.

It was not clear whether the murder was connected to a visit to Iraq on today by a senior Iranian envoy who is trying to mediate an end to the US standoff with radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Iraqi foreign ministry spokesman Thamir al-Adhami confirmed that the diplomat was killed. The man was identified as Khalil Noeimi, the embassy's first secretary.

Asked whether the killing was linked to the envoy's visit, the embassy official said, "There is some speculation, but we do not have a clear idea."

The hood of the diplomats' car was crumpled and bullet holes pockmarked the windshield. The car had diplomatic plates but no symbols on it suggesting it was Iranian.

Mr Noeimi was shot three times in the head, the Arab TV station al-Jazeera said.

Earlier today, an delegation headed by senior Iranian foreign ministry official Hussein Sedeqi headed to the southern city of Najaf and held talks with Mr al-Sadr, whom US forces have vowed to capture or kill.

The Iranian delegation met last night with Massoud Barzani, the current president of the Iraqi governing council. The talks were "positive" and the Iranians expressed their willingness to mediate with Mr Sadr, according to the council member Mahmoud Othman.

The mediation by the Iranians, as well as other negotiations by an Iraqi Shia political party, aim to find a resolution that will ward off a US attack on Najaf - the holiest Shia city.

The intervention by Iran, a nation Washington has tried to keep out of Iraqi affairs, was seen as a sign of the eagerness to avert a US attack on Najaf, which is surrounded by 2,500 US troops.

A US assault into the city could enflame Iraq's Shia majority and push them closer to Mr al-Sadr, whose militia launched a bloody uprising last week against coalition forces across the south. It would also fan anti-American sentiment in Shia communities around the world, including mostly-Shia Iran.

Iraq's top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, has persuaded Mr al-Sadr to drop his demands he had put forward to Iraqi politicians currently mediating the standoff. Among other things, Mr al-Sadr had demanded US troops withdraw from all Iraqi cities.

Mr Sadr's militiamen today appeared to be preparing for a fight, moving into buildings and onto rooftops on Najaf's outskirts, said Colonel Dana Pittard, head of the troops amassed outside the city, ready to move in against Mr al-Sadr.

In other developments, al-Jazeera reported that the three Japanese hostages held last week have been released.

Al-Jazeera said the hostages were in good health. They two aid workers and a journalist were in Baghdad and free as "the guests of Muslim scholars", the station said, giving no further details.

The three Japanese civilians were taken hostage in Iraq last week by militants who threatened to kill them unless Japan withdrew its non-combat troops from southern Iraq. The prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi had refused, insisting the soldiers will complete their humanitarian mission.

There were also unconfirmed reports today that two other Japanese have been kidnapped. According to Japanese news agency Kyodo, a member of a non-governmental organisation had witnessed freelance journalists Jumpei Yasuda, 30, and Nobutaka Watanabe, 36, being taken hostage by an armed group on the outskirts of Baghdad yesterday.

The reports emerged after an Italian security became the first civilian hostage to be killed by his captors. Al-Jazeera was sent a video showing Fabrizio Quattrocchi, 36, from Genoa, being killed with a shot to the back of the head. He had been sitting with three other Italian hostages next to an open grave.

More than 40 people from a dozen countries have been kidnapped since the recent upsurge in violence. Some were held for a few hours, others for a week. Most have been released without suffering severe harm, but around 10 are still being held by various insurgents.

Some 150 Russians have fled the country so far in an evacuation called for by Moscow because of the abductions.

The Russian government is sending flights to evacuate around 553 Russians and 263 citizens of former Soviet republics. Other Russian contractors will stay.

The Philippines said today it would keep its small contingent of troops in Iraq, but could follow Russia's lead in evacuating civilians.

In Falluja, the most senior US marine commander warned that the halt in offensive operations that the marines have maintained since Friday may not last much longer in the face of persistent guerrilla attacks, despite a truce insurgents called on Sunday.

A senior US official in Baghdad said up to 2,000 insurgents are thought to be holed up in the city, west of the capital.

"I don't forecast that this stalemate will go on for long," said Major General James Mattis, commander of the US military's 1st Marine Division. "It's hard to have a ceasefire when they manoeuvre against us, they fire at us."