His killing came hours after the official end of campaigning at midnight Thursday.

The killing comes three weeks before a presidential election in this oil-rich former Soviet state.

Also, when the killing comes, there will be many more people to die.

But now, he says, the killings are coming faster, and residents have little interest in helping investigators.

His killing came at a time of increased rebel and right-wing violence.

So many people hated him, and they thought the killing must have come from their hate.

The killings came at a time when the city's murder rate was already rising.

That killing, they said, came after a weekend of heavy police and Army patrols in which local leaders were threatened.

The killing came as violence continued in hot spots around Iraq.

The killing came as tensions already were rising between the local population and the refugees.