Gunmen kidnapped and killed one of Saddam Hussein's chief defence lawyers, the third defence lawyer to be killed since the start of the US-backed trial, police confirmed today.
Saddam Hussein at his trial. One of his defence lawyers has been kidnapped and killed.
The killing of Khamis al-Obaidi, the number two on Saddam's defence team, dealt a fresh blow to US-backed efforts to try Saddam for crimes during his Sunni-led rule and is likely to fuel complaints sectarian violence is hindering a fair trial.
Saddam and seven others are on trial on charges of crimes against humanity.
A police officer who identified himself only as Captain Sabah said Mr Obaidi had been shot eight times, mostly in the head. There were signs of torture - both his arms were broken.
The chief prosecutor in the trial, 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 a death penalty for Saddam and three of his former aides for their roles in a crackdown on Shia villagers following a 1982 attempt on the ousted leader's life.
Police said Mr Obaidi's body was found today near Baghdad's Sadr City slum, an area that is a stronghold of militias from the Shia majority now in power.
The body of Saadoun Janabi, the first Saddam lawyer to be killed, was dumped in the same area. Neighbours said at the time he was abducted by men who identified themselves as Interior Ministry forces.
Senior police officials could not confirm a report today that Mr Obaidi was kidnapped by men wearing police uniforms.
Unlike other defence lawyers who live abroad, Mr Obaidi, who also represented Saddam's half-brother and co-accused Barzan al -Tikriti lived in Iraq.
Police were not immediately able to say when he was kidnapped, but he was in court during Monday's session. Chief defence counsel Khalil al-Dulaimi said the trial should be halted.
"We call for the trial to be stopped and to transfer the defendants out of Iraq because it is no longer a safe place," he said in Amman.
"We hold the US and Iraqi governments and particularly the militias responsible for Obaidi's killing."
A Western official close to the court said Mr Obaidi was offered protection but had turned it down. "He made his choice not to accept it."