Saddam tribunal judge murdered

A JUDGE working for the tribunal that will try Saddam Hussein and members of his former regime was killed by gunmen, officials said yesterday, a day after the secret court referred five of the ousted dictator’s aides to trial for alleged crimes against humanity.

The judge, Barwez Mohammed Mahmoud al-Merwani, and his son, Aryan Barwez al-Merwani - a lawyer also working for the tribunal - were shot dead outside their home in northern Baghdad’s Azamyiah district on Tuesday. The shootings marked the first time legal staff working for the Iraqi Special Tribunal had been killed.

Two car bombs also exploded in the capital, yesterday, killing ten Iraqi soldiers and wounding dozens of others.

While a tribunal official indicated the shootings may have been due to a personal dispute, one of the judge’s other sons, Kikawz Barwez Mohammed al-Merwani claimed the two were assassinated because they worked for the court or because they were minority Kurds.

Mr Merwani said: "We believe that the murders are politically motivated, because the two killed were working in the special tribunal and Aryan was a senior member in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan [PUK] office in Baghdad. This is a terrorist act carried out by Baathists and terrorists."

The PUK is one of two key northern Kurdish parties. US authorities dissolved Saddam’s former ruling Baath party after ousting him from power.

A court official, who declined to be named, said the murdered judge was one of more than 60 working at the court.

Iraqis perceived as collaborating with the US and the government are targeted relentlessly by insurgents and legal staff working at the court have not been identified in public because of concerns for their safety. Tribunal officials have even refused to say where the court is located.

A day before the killings, the tribunal had issued referrals for five former regime members - including one of Saddam’s half brothers - for crimes against humanity, clearing the way for a trial. The Iraqi Special Tribunal was set up in 2003 after Saddam was toppled, but after five potential candidates were killed, some judges declined calls to work at the court. At least half of the tribunal’s budget has gone to security.

Tuesday’s killings are unlikely to have any impact on the trial process.

In the first car blast in Baghdad, yesterday, at least six people were killed and 25 injured - 15 of them civilians - when a bomb exploded outside an Iraqi army base occupying the former Muthanna airport.

The explosion could be heard across the city, and a plume of black smoke billowed into the air.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was a "martyrdom" operation.

About an hour later, another car bomb exploded in southern Baghdad’s Doura district, killing four Iraqi soldiers at an army checkpoint and wounding three others.

Meanwhile, in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, clashes erupted between US forces and gunmen after insurgents detonated a roadside bomb as a US convoy passed. The explosion missed the convoy, but damaged two civilian cars that were in flames.

The clash came as the insurgent Ansar al-Sunnah Army purportedly posted an internet statement claiming to have killed two Turkish drivers they kidnapped on 25 February on the road to the northern city of Kirkuk.

The drivers were identified as Turan Unal and Huseyin Aytag.

The statement warned: "We call upon all the Turkish drivers and all those who co-operate with the Crusaders to repent, or else their fate will be the same as these two apostate drivers."