KUWAIT, April 10: A senior Iraqi Shia leader, Abdul Majid al Khoei, and his aide were assassinated in an attack in Najaf on Thursday.

Ali Jabr of the London-based Khoei Foundation said Abdel Majid, who is the son of Ayatollah Seyyid Abdulqasim Musawi al Khoei, the late leader of Iraq’s Shias, was shot dead at the Grand Imam Ali Mosque.

Mr Khoei’s aide, Haidar Kelidar, was also killed by what Ali Jabr described as a mob in the mosque attack.

Iraqi opposition sources in Kuwait said Mr Khoei’s assassination could trigger infighting among Shias, as the United States tries to bring together rival groups in a post-Saddam Iraq.

Dissidents say Abdul Majid’s rapid return to Iraq — and the United States’ obvious backing for him — had sparked intense criticism from other Shia leaders keen to assert their authority after the fall of President Saddam.

Abdul Majid’s critics also allege he was not as fiercely opposed to Saddam Hussein as he wanted his followers to believe. Supporters of Khoei said the US forces had given him the authority to administer Najaf — another sore point for Shia groups.

A spokesman at US Central Command headquarters in Qatar said he had heard reports about an incident in the Najaf area involving a local leader, but could not give details.

A separate US military spokeswoman said Najaf had been relatively calm in recent days. “The situation inside that town was not volatile,” she said.

Abdul Majid defected to London shortly after the uprising and returned to Najaf last week after US forces took control of the holy city. Supporters said he was helping the Americans restore order to the city of about 500,000.

Mr Khoei’s nephew, Jawad al Khoei, said in an interview from the Iranian holy city of Qom that Abdul Majid was stabbed to death at the Grand Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf.

“An hour ago we talked to the persons who were with him at the time of the incident. They said he was martyred by treacherous hands,” Jawad al Khoei said.

Mr Jabr and a dissident Iraqi religious leader, Sheikh Fazel al Haidari, said Abdul Majid was killed by Iraqi fighters loyal to Saddam Hussein.

“We should not assume Saddam and his Baath party are finished. These Fedayeen fighters worship Saddam like an idol, he is their preacher,” Sheikh Haidari said.

The Khoei Foundation’s Jawad told Al Jazeera television that the attack in the Grand Imam Ali Mosque was aimed at inciting strife among Shias.

Abdul Majid al Khoei was a key aide of Iraq’s leading Shia leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, who last week urged his followers not to interfere with operations conducted by US and British forces. Majid Khoei was poorly received in a recent trip to Iran, where opponents rallied against him chanting: “Go back to America”. —Reuters