BAGHDAD, Dec 13: Gunmen assassinated a high- profile Sunni politician in western Iraq on Tuesday, two days before the nation votes for its first full-term parliament since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

Mizhar al-Dulaimi, who ran his own political party, was shot dead as he campaigned in Ramadi, a violent city west of Baghdad, police said. Three of his bodyguards were wounded.

He was the latest of several influential Sunni leaders, including a top cleric, to be killed in the run up to the Dec 15 election, as militants try to wreck the U.S.-backed political process.

Militant groups have told Iraqis not to go to the polls. One group, the Islamic Army in Iraq, which has carried out many deadly bombings, issued a statement on Tuesday saying it would not attack polling stations, even though it did vow Jihad, against the Americans.

Several Sunni Arab lists are registered for the election and are expected to pick up strong support in central and western parts of the country, even if some groups remain adamantly opposed to the process.—Reuters