Gunmen shot and killed a senior judge working for the Iraqi special tribunal set up to try Saddam Hussein and leading members of his regime, Interior Ministry officials said Wednesday.

The judge, Barawiz Mahmoud, was shot by unknown gunmen as he left his house in the Adhamiya district of Baghdad on Tuesday with his son, another lawyer, who was also killed in the attack.

"He was working with the tribunal. He was involved in cases including Saddam's," an Interior Ministry spokesman said.

It is believed to be the first assassination of a judge working for the tribunal, although other senior judges have been killed in recent months.

The killings of judge Mahmoud and his son were seen as another attack on those collaborating with the government, said a source close to the Iraqi courts.

Mahmoud was an investigative judge for a tribunal set up in December 2003 to try members of the former regime for crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and other violations during the Baath party's more than 30 years in power.

The tribunal wrapped up its first investigation of former old regime members on Monday, recommending that Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Hassan al-Tikriti, his former Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan and three others be brought to trial for crimes against humanity.

The five are due to be tried for the 1982 killing of 143 residents of Dujail, a village northeast of Baghdad.

The tribunal is made up of around 50 trial judges, investigating magistrates, prosecutors and appeals court judges. It was not clear exactly what role Mahmoud had with the tribunal.

Attacks continue

The attack on the judge, although high profile, was only one of the attacks that rocked Iraq Wednesday.

A suicide car bomb exploded outside an Iraqi army base in Baghdad yesterday morning, killing at least six people, including the bomber, and injuring more than 38 others, eyewitnesses said.

The explosion at the army recruitment center near the city's old Muthanna airport occurred as volunteers were lined up to join the Iraqi security forces.

Arab broadcaster al-Jazeera reported most of the people lined up at the base were protected by heavy concrete walls, but those outside the protective barriers were killed or injured.

The Muthanna airport is no longer used for flights but is still home to US and Iraqi military bases.

There have been at least three previous attacks at the same recruitment location.

A second car bomb targeted a convoy of Iraqi soldiers in western Baghdad, killing seven and wounding two, police said.

Guerrillas fighting to overthrow the US-backed government have repeatedly attacked Iraqi police and soldiers, as well as people queueing up to recruit in the security forces.

On Monday, a suicide car bomb attack on Iraqis hoping to join the police in Hilla, south of the capital, killed 125 people the deadliest single attack since Saddam's overthrow.

Al-Qaida's wing in Iraq, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the Hilla blast.

Washington says Zarqawi is its top foe in Iraq and is offering US$25 million for information leading to his death or capture.

General John Abizaid, head of US Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that improved Iraqi intelligence sources and "treason within his own organization" had led to successes against Zarqawi.

In another development, Ukraine plans to start bringing its 1,600 troops home from Iraq this month and complete the withdrawal by October 15, President Viktor Yushchenko said Wednesday.

He said the first group would leave Iraq on March 15.

(China Daily March 3, 2005)