An army officer shot dead Ethiopia's security chief today as the official was making his way into an officers' club in the capital, state radio reported.
Mr Kinfe Gebremedhin had been head of the Federal Security and Immigration Authority of Ethiopia since the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) took power in 1991, and was widely seen as a close ally of Prime Minister Mr Meles Zenawi.
He was killed this morning by an army major while entering the Armed Forces Officers' club, the radio said.
The killer greeted him first, and as Mr Kinfe was passing, he shot him from the back, said an official source who declined to be identified.Several shots were fired.
The source said the army officer, who was not named in the radio report, made no attempt to escape. He has been arrested and is being questioned by police.
Mr Kinfe was also a politburo and central committee member of the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), the dominant part of the coalition which makes up the EPRDF.
He was entering the club to chair a meeting of TPLF officers, the source said.
Mr Kinge was 46 years old, and is survived by a son and a daughter. He was a graduate of Durham University in England, the source said.