The AP reports from BAGHDAD:

The head of a committee tasked with rooting out Iraqis with ties to Saddam Hussein's deposed regime and who was once arrested for alleged ties to Shiite militias has been shot to death in Baghdad, officials said.

Ali al-Lami was a divisive figure in Iraqi politics who had close ties to neighboring Iran's Shiite Muslim government and was known for the vigor with which he tried to root out Saddam-era loyalists from all levels of Iraqi government. Continue reading.

Uri Friedman of The Atlantic writes that al-Lami's death may be part of an alarming new wave of assassinations in Iraq.