Al-SADR BUTTBUDDY KILLED

Police have imposed a curfew in the Iraqi city of Najaf after a senior aide to Muqtada MOOKIE al-Sadr, an Shia leader, was shot dead near his home, Iraqi officials said.

Riyadh al-Nouri, who was the director of al-Sadr's office in Najaf, was killed as he drove home from Friday prayers in the nearby city of Kufa.

Police set up blockades, ordered people off the streets and closed shops after the incident, a Reuters news agency reporter said.

Haider al-Turfi, another Sadr official in Njafa, said that armed men were waiting for al-Nouri near his home in the city's eastern neighbourhood of al-Adala.

"When he arrived from the prayers, they opened fire on him, killing him instantly," Turfi said.