Two Islamic Party members, Iyad Alizi and Ali Hussein, and one of their bodyguards were killed today when gunmen opened fire on their car near Abu Ghraib in western Baghdad.
Mr Alizi was one of the Sunni Arab party's candidates for the Iraqi Accordance Front contesting next month's election.
Two Britons and an Iraqi were earlier shot dead by gunmen near Baghdad. The pair were shot on a minibus as they travelled on a pilgrimage to holy sites in Karbala.
They were described as British Asians and were carrying British passports.
And the US embassy in Iraq has confirmed that an American citizen is among four people who have been reported kidnapped in Baghdad.
The others are a British man, named as Professor Norman Kember, and two Canadians who have not been named.
Professor Kember, who is from north-west London, is understood to be a representative of a number of humanitarian aid groups.
