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By DAVID RISING, Associated Press Writer
50 minutes ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The brother-in-law of the new judge presiding at Saddam Hussein's genocide trial was killed and his nephew was wounded in a shooting Friday in Baghdad, the latest deadly violence linked to proceedings against the former Iraqi leader.
The judge's brother-in-law, Kadhim Abdul-Hussein, was fatally shot, and his son, Karrar, was wounded by unidentified assailants, police 1st Lt. Thaer Mahmoud said.
It was not immediately clear whether they were targeted because they were related to Judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa, a Shiite Muslim who took over the Saddam trial last week, or if it was another of the sectarian attacks that have been plaguing Baghdad.
During Saddam's first trial, three defense lawyers were killed, and in July, Saddam and three other defendants refused food to protest lack of security for lawyers and conduct of the trial.
Friday's attack in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Ghazaliyah came a half-hour before the weekly ban on vehicular traffic in the capital that has been instituted to try to prevent suicide bombings on the Muslim holy day.
Al-Khalifa had been deputy to the original chief judge in the trial, Abdullah al-Amiri, who was removed on accusations he was too soft on Saddam. Among other things, al-Amiri had angered Kurdish politicians by declaring in court that Saddam was "not a dictator."
The trial, Saddam's second, began Aug. 21. He and six co-defendants face genocide charges for their roles in a bloody crackdown against Kurdish rebels in the late 1980s. The defendants could face the death penalty if convicted.
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