Iraqi security forces gather near a bullet-riddled vehicle that was carrying some of the bodyguards of the governor of Baghdad province, Ali al-Haidari, in Baghdad's northern neighborhood of Hurriyah, on Tuesday. (Mohammed Khodor / AP)

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Three weeks before the US "exit-strategy" based elections scheduled in Iraq, insurgents assassinated the highest-ranking Iraqi official in eight months Tuesday, gunning down the governor of Baghdad province and six of his bodyguards. He is the highest-ranking Iraqi official killed since the former president of the now defunct Governing Council — Abdel-Zahraa Othman, better known as Izzadine Saleem — was assassinated in May 2004. On Nov. 1, al-Haidari’s deputy, Hatim Kamil, was shot to death on his way to work. The United States and Iraq’s electoral commission, however, insist that voting take place as scheduled.

• The militant group of Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al-Qaida in Iraq, claimed responsibility for killing Gov. Ali al-Haidari and his bodyguards, and for the truck bombing, according to statements posted on a Web site known for carrying such claims.

• Also Tuesday, a tanker truck packed with explosives detonated near an Interior Ministry commando headquarters in western Baghdad, killing 10 people and wounding about 60, the Interior Ministry said.