A senior aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's top Shia cleric, was assassinated yesterday as insurgents stepped up their violent campaign to disrupt the January 30 elections by provoking sectarian tensions.

Mahmoud al-Madaeni, Mr Sistani's representative in the mixed Sunni-Shia region of Salman Pak, was attacked on his way home from evening prayers along with his son and two others.