Second Saddam trial lawyer killed

Second Saddam trial lawyer killed

BAGHDAD – Gunmen shot dead a lawyer working for a Saddam Hussein co-defendant in Baghdad, the second defence lawyer killed in less than three weeks.

The assassination on Tuesday underlined the volatile climate in Iraq and cast doubt on whether the trial of the ousted Iraqi leader and his seven co-defendants would resume as scheduled on November 28. Adel Mohammed Abbas was killed when gunmen opened fire on him and lawyer Tamer Hammud Hadi in the Adl neighbourhood of Baghdad, an interior ministry source said.Raising fresh questions about Iraq’s capacity to hold the trial amid a lethal insurgency, Abbas’s murder followed the abduction and execution of defence lawyer Saadun Janabi one day after the historic trial opened in Baghdad on October 19.The day before he was shot down Abbas told the US magazine Time that he knew he faced death because of his work.Abbas represented former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan, a member of the powerful Revolution Command Council who had been one of Saddam’s closest aides.Hadi, who was rushed to hospital, helps with the defence of Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, a Saddam half-brother who once headed the feared Mukhabarat intelligence service.Janabi, who was found dead on October 21, represented Awad Ahmad al-Bandar, a former chief judge of the revolutionary court and deputy head of Saddam’s office.All eight defendants face charges connected to the 1982 massacre of more than 140 Shi’ite villagers from Dujail, north of the capital.All pleaded not guilty.If convicted they could be executed.- Nampa-AFPAdel Mohammed Abbas was killed when gunmen opened fire on him and lawyer Tamer Hammud Hadi in the Adl neighbourhood of Baghdad, an interior ministry source said.Raising fresh questions about Iraq’s capacity to hold the trial amid a lethal insurgency, Abbas’s murder followed the abduction and execution of defence lawyer Saadun Janabi one day after the historic trial opened in Baghdad on October 19.The day before he was shot down Abbas told the US magazine Time that he knew he faced death because of his work.Abbas represented former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan, a member of the powerful Revolution Command Council who had been one of Saddam’s closest aides.Hadi, who was rushed to hospital, helps with the defence of Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, a Saddam half-brother who once headed the feared Mukhabarat intelligence service.Janabi, who was found dead on October 21, represented Awad Ahmad al-Bandar, a former chief judge of the revolutionary court and deputy head of Saddam’s office.All eight defendants face charges connected to the 1982 massacre of more than 140 Shi’ite villagers from Dujail, north of the capital.All pleaded not guilty.If convicted they could be executed.- Nampa-AFP

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