The Guardian - A lawyer representing one of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants was today found dead after being kidnapped last night, Iraqi police said.
Police and an official from a lawyers' union said the body of Saadoun Sughaiyer al-Janabi had been found near a mosque in Baghdad. He was abducted from his office by around 10 masked gunmen last night.
The kidnapping happened the day after Mr Janabi had participated in the first session of Saddam's trial on Wednesday. He was acting as the lawyer for one of the former Iraqi president's seven co-defendants.
Security around defence lawyers has been less than that afforded to judges and prosecutors because defence lawyers were seen as less likely targets for pro-Saddam insurgents seeking revenge.
Their names have not been kept secret, while those of judges and prosecutors - apart from the main trial judge and police prosecutor, whose names were already known - have.
After Mr Janabi's kidnapping, Saddam's chief lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, revealed defence lawyers had received many threats in recent weeks.
He did not specify whether they were from opponents of the former dictator who were angry that they were defending Saddam's regime or from Sunni supporters angered that they were involved in the trial at all.
I still can't figure out why anybody would have done this. It just doesn't make sense. But then again, maybe I should stop trying to apply logic to the actions of the murderous and fanatical followers of a stone-age brand of religion.