(AKI) - Unidentified gunmen on Thursday shot dead a prominent Shiite member of the Karbala's provincial council, Sheikh Akram al-Zubaidi, and two of his body guards outside the central city of Karbala. The gunmen, who had set up a false road block, opened machinegun fire on al-Zubaidi's car three kilometres from Karbala was he was heading home, killing him instantly, before fleeing, police sources said. The gunmen wounded two other bodyguards in the attack, the sources added.Al-Zubaidi was disciple of the revered Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Mohammed al-Sistani. Karbala is the site of an important Shiite shrine. Scores of people have been killed and wounded in several bomb attacks there in the past year.