Baghdad - A leading politician from the Iraqi Islamic Party, part of in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's ruling coalition, has been assassinated west of Baghdad, the party announced Thursday.

Faisal Abdallah al-Samrai was among the top leaders of the Iraqi Islamic Party, a descendant of the Iraqi branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and part of al-Maliki's United Iraqi Alliance.

In a statement released Thursday morning, the Iraqi Islamic Party said al-Samrai was gunned down as he left a celebration on Wednesday night. He had recently won a seat on the local council for the central Iraqi district of al-Karkh, just west of Baghdad, in January's elections.

"The hands of evil and disloyalty have reached, with aggression and injustice, one of the most prominent men of the Iraqi Islamic Party," the party said.

Al-Samrai, an electrical engineer by training, had played an "important role in restoring security to al-Karkh," the party said.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgent groups competing with the Iraqi Islamic Party have criticized the party for participating in the Iraqi government. (dpa)