A senior Iraqi Oil Ministry official has been shot dead outside his home in the capital, Baghdad.
Police said that Ali Hameed, a director general at the ministry, was shot as he was leaving for work this morning.
In a separate attack north of Baghdad, two policemen were killed in a roadside bomb attack in Baquba.
More than 400 people have been killed in Iraq since late last month in an escalation of violence by insurgents since the announcement of the country's new government.
