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Argentine governor dies in New Year shooting

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Carlos Soria, 61, was just weeks into his governorship of the southern state when he was shot at his residence near the town of General Roca at around 5:00 am Sunday. He was taken to a local hospital where he later died.

His deputy Alberto Weretilneck, who now becomes governor, told a radio interviewer the shooting appeared to be the result of a "domestic accident," and said "it will be up to the justice system to determine what happened."

Weretilneck said Soria's wife was the only other person at the residence at the time of the shooting. Officials have ruled out suicide.

Soria was a member of the ruling Peronist party and a former head of the Argentine intelligence services.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011