2 relatives of new Saddam judge killed

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The brother-in-law and nephew of the new judge presiding over Saddam Hussein's genocide trial were fatally shot Friday morning in Baghdad, police said. Kadhim Abdul-Hussein and his son Karrar were attacked in their car by unidentified assailants in the capital's mostly Sunni western Ghazaliya neighborhood, police 1st Lt. Thaer Mahmoud said.

It was not immediately clear if the shooting was related to Judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa, who took over the Saddam trial last week, or if it was another of the sectarian attacks that have been plaguing Baghdad.

Abul-Hussein and his son were Shiites.

Al-Khalifa was the deputy of the original chief judge in the trial, Abdullah al-Amiri. Al-Amiri was removed after he was accused of being too soft on Saddam.

Among other things, al-Amiri had angered Kurdish politicians by declaring in court that Saddam was "not a dictator."

Saddam's nine lawyers walked out of the trial on Monday, boycotting the proceedings to protest al-Amiri's removal.

Al-Khalifa adjourned the trial until Oct. 9, saying he wanted to give the defendants time to persuade their original lawyers to end the boycott, or to confer with new attorneys.

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.