TEHRAN (Fars News Agency) - A Shiite cleric was gunned down by bandits in a village in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan as he was delivering a sermon on Tuesday.

Hojjatoleslam Mehdi Tavakoli was killed by two gunmen on motorcycles on Tuesday in a village near the city of Khash.

Sistan and Baluchestan province borders both Afghanistan and Pakistan and has been hit by a string of attacks and kidnappings blamed on a group called Jundallah which operates under the well-known gang and terrorist Abdul-Malik Rigi who has established ties with certain western countries.

... Payvand News - 10/3/07 ... --