Monday, December 29, 2003 Posted: 1724 GMT ( 1:24 AM HKT)
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VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The papal nuncio in Burundi, Monsignor Michael Courtney, was shot and killed in the East African nation, the Vatican said.
A Vatican official, speaking on condition of anonymity, on Monday confirmed the death but would offer no details until the nuncio's family had been informed.
The Irish-born prelate was 58.
The Misna missionary news agency said in a statement that Courtney was shot in the head, the shoulder and a limb in Minago, 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) south of the Burundi's capital, Bujumbura. It described the circumstances of the attack as "still not completely clear."
The agency said Courtney had been traveling by car with three other passengers when gunfire from a nearby hill sprayed the vehicle. In addition to Courtney, a priest was also lightly injured, while the driver and a hitchhiker were unharmed.
Bullets also struck the wheels of the car, slowing the passage to the capital and medical help there, Misna said. Courtney died from a major hemorrhage while undergoing surgery at a hospital, it said.
Further details were not immediately available.