Baghdad, May 5 (DPA) Seven people were killed in a string of attacks in Iraq, including a prominent Sunni cleric, and 20 wanted individuals were arrested, Iraqi security sources said Wednesday.

A policeman and a civilian were shot and killed by gunmen in the Serj Khana market in the centre of the city of Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, security sources said.

In an unrelated incident in Mosul’s neighbourhood of Telafr, a civilian was shot and killed by gunmen.

In Mosul’s western area of al-Baaj, Iraqi security forces arrested 20 wanted individuals and uncovered a weapons cache.

The vice-president of Iraq’s Council for Religious Scholars was killed by militants in the capital of Baghdad this morning, al-Yaqen news agency reported.

Abdelgaleel al-Fahdawi, a Sunni, was killed by a gunmen in a drive-by shooting as he was leaving his home in the district of al-Ameriya. Two of his companions and one of his family members were also killed in the attack.

Al-Fahdawi was also the preacher at the al-Ikhwa al-Saliheen mosque, which is next to his home.

The Council for Religious Scholars was established after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 with the aim of working towards a peaceful co-existence of Sunni and Shiite Muslims.