Iraqi judge, driver shot dead

2008-01-14 12:10

Baghdad - Gunmen killed an Iraqi Appeals Court judge and his driver in western Baghdad on Monday, raking their car with bursts of gunfire before speeding off, security officials said.

The ambush took place as the judge was being driven to work and was passing through Mansour neighbourhood, they said.

"Judge Amer Jawdat Al-Naeib was killed and his driver was wounded in the gunfire but died soon afterwards," one security official said.

Professionals such as judges, professors, doctors and lawyers are often singled out for attack in the sectarian violence that has ravaged Iraq since the US-led invasion of 2003.

The killing was confirmed by the Supreme Judicial Council, of which the judge was a member.

- AFP