RAMADI, Oct 18: A senior member of the provincial government in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, the focus of the Sunni resistance, was shot dead by gunmen in Ramadi on Tuesday, a local doctor said.

Talib al Dulaimi, a deputy governor of Anbar province, was ambushed by gunmen in an attack that also killed his bodyguard, according to doctor Hamdi al Rawi at Ramadi hospital.

Ramadi, 110kms west of Baghdad, is the capital of Anbar province, a vast region at the heart of the Sunni resistance.

US forces have conducted a series of operations against guerillas around the city and areas to the west over the past three weeks to try to impose security before last Saturday’s constitutional referendum in Iraq.

Very low turnout for the vote was reported in Ramadi.

—Reuters