Third Saddam defence lawyer killed

One of Saddam Hussein's main lawyers was shot dead yesterday after men in police uniform took him from his home, relatives said, the third defence attorney to be killed since the trial opened in October.

Gunmen also abducted at least 80 Iraqi factory workers travelling home in a fleet of buses just north of Baghdad, police and Interior Ministry sources said.

The killing of lawyer Khamis al-Obaidi was a new setback for the US-backed court. It fuelled complaints sectarian violence is crippling a fair trial. Saddam's Sunni Arab minority accuse Shi'ite militias within the police of running death squads.

The lead defence lawyer called for the case to be suspended and the defendants taken abroad after the death of his deputy.

Five busloads of employees from a factory in Taji north of Baghdad were commandeered by dozens of gunmen, officials said. One source put the number of those kidnapped at, at least, 100.

The area sees significant Sunni Arab insurgent activity. Similar mass kidnappings have ended in massacres of those taken.

Al Qaeda's allies said in a Web posting they would kill four Russian embassy staff kidnapped in Baghdad 18 days ago because Moscow failed to meet a deadline to pull troops out of Chechnya. Russia urged the group to heed Muslim calls to free the men.

A US official said eight members of a Marine unit in Iraq would be charged with murder over the shooting of a disabled man in April. It is one of a number of cases in which US troops have been accused of killing Iraqi civilians. Charges are expected over the deaths of 24 people at Haditha in November.

Mr Obaidi's wife told another defence lawyer that men in police uniform took Mr Obaidi from his Baghdad home around 7 am.

"They said 'We're from internal security and we need you for questioning'," Qatari attorney Najeeb al-Nuaimi told Al Jazeera television. Two hours later, Mr Obaidi's body was dumped on a road beside a poster honouring a Shi'ite cleric killed under Saddam. The attack appeared very similar to the killing of another lawyer the day after the televised trial began in October. Saddam and seven Baath party allies are being tried for crimes against humanity over the deaths of Shi'ite villagers.

A police officer said Obaidi had been shot eight times and there were signs of torture, both his arms were broken.

Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi said the killing would "not affect or delay the trial and we will defy terrorism".

It came two days after Mr Moussawi demanded the death penalty for Saddam and three of his senior Baath party allies.

Shopowners told Reuters three gunmen dumped the body of Obaidi at a roundabout under a poster of a senior Shi'ite cleric killed by Saddam's agents in 1999. The cleric is the father of Moqtada al-Sadr, a cleric and leader of the Mehdi Army militia.

"They fired into the air and said 'This is the fate of Baathists!'," said a vegetable seller who store is close by.

The area is not far from the Sadr City slum, a stronghold of Sadr's militia. The body of Saadoun Janabi, the first lawyer to be killed, was also dumped nearby. Neighbours said then that he was seized by men saying they were from the Interior Ministry.

Unlike other defence lawyers, Mr Obaidi still lived in Iraq.

Chief defence counsel Khalil al-Dulaimi said the trial should be suspended and the defendants taken abroad for safety.

A Western official close to the court said Mr Obaidi was offered protection but had turned it down. The US embassy issued a statement urging lawyers to accept protection.

The United Nations envoy urged Iraq to "adopt effective measures" to curb violence that threatens its stability.

Mr Nuaimi said other defence lawyers had received written death threats from pro-government Shi'ite militias.

Mr Obaidi told Reuters last year he preferred to stay in Iraq during court recesses: "Whatever will be will be," he said.

The trial was also marred by the resignation of the previous judge, who complained the government was pressuring him. Defence lawyers are due to sum up on July 10.