Assassination Attempt on Shiite Leader

MOSUL, Iraq – Masked gunmen opened fire at the an official with the country's largest Shiite Muslim (search) group Saturday in Mosul (search), wounding him and three of his bodyguards, hospital officials said.

Yahya al-Haidari, a provincial official of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution (search) in Iraq, was shot as he drove in the Hadba neighborhood of the northern city, said Dr. Baha al-Din al-Bakri of the Jumhuri Hospital.

Al-Haidari was hit by three bullets and was in stable condition, al-Bakri said. His bodyguards were being treated at the same hospital and were in stable condition.

A member of Ninevah province's council, Hamid Ali, confirmed al-Bakri's statements.

Sunni Arab insurgents have been targeting majority Shiites, who dominate Iraq's government.