Gunmen broke into Faris Jassim Al-Jubouri's house in a village about 35 km west of the northern city of Mosul at dawn and shot him multiple times, according to police and a morgue official. A police source, who asked not to be named, said Al-Jubouri was shot dead by gunmen in police uniform. He said the men searched several homes in Al-Jubouri's village saying they were looking for mortars. On entering Al-Jubouri's home, "they tied up his brother and when he came downstairs they opened fire and killed him," he said.

"This assassination is part of series of assassinations targeting members of the Iraqiya list, definitely for political reasons," said party spokeswoman Maysoun Damlouji. "The Iraqiya list does not want to escalate the situation, but we won't sit silent over the killing of any Iraqi."

"Iraqiya was targeted before the election, and the attacks are continuing," senior Iraqiya official Intisar Allawi said. "We don't know who we will lose next. We call on the government to provide protection for winning candidates."

The secular Iraqiya coalition, headed by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, has been at the center of a political showdown over the March 7 parliamentary election, which did not produce a clear winner. Iraqiya's rivals in two religious Shiite political blocs are trying to outmaneuver it to form the next government.

Iraqiya won just two more parliamentary seats than its closest rivals, led by Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki.

Iraqiya's slim lead was largely thanks to Allawi's outreach to Iraq's disaffected Sunni minority. If they are left out of the next government, Sunnis could feel alienated and violence directed at the government and security forces could increase, just as US forces are preparing for substantial troop withdrawals.

Al-Jubouri had not been expected to take a seat in the new Parliament because Iraqiya failed to win enough votes.

He was the third Allawi-linked candidate to be gunned down in and around Mosul in recent months. On May 24, gunmen firing from a car killed newly elected candidate Bashar Mohammed Hamid Ahmed as he was on his way home. He was the first new lawmaker killed since the election.

A woman Iraqiya candidate, Suha Jarallah, was shot and killed in Mosul before the vote in early February.