China is greatly worried about the possible impact on the Middle East regional situation brought by the death of the Palestinian Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said in Beijing Monday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan made the remark when asked to comment on Yassin's death in an Israeli air-raid.

"China is closely following the development of the event," Kong said, adding that it has noticed the event and is greatly worried about the possible impact.

It has been reported that Israeli Apache helicopters fired three missiles at Yassin and his two bodyguards at daybreak as they left a mosque near his house Monday, killing them instantly. Four people were killed and 12 wounded in the attack, reports said.

Yassin, who founded Hamas in 1987, was held in Israeli prisons for several years before being released in 1994.

(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2004)