Judge is shot dead as Iraqis' hatred of occupiers grows

Gunmen shot dead a prominent judge in Mosul in northern Iraq yesterday, a day after another judge was kidnapped and killed in Najaf in the south of the country. A car with tinted windows drew up outside the house of Ismail Yousef, a judge in Mosul’s appeal court, early in the morning. Several men got out and shot the judge in the chest and side. The reason for the killing is a mystery; he was not involved in prosecuting Baathists. On Monday, a senior judge, Mohan Jaber al-Shoueli, was kidnapped with his deputy in the city of Najaf to the south of Baghdad. According to the deputy who was later released, the gunmen said they were obeying the orders of Saddam. Mystery surrounds the murder because Najaf is a Shia holy city and most of its population hated the deposed president. The assassination of two judges at opposite ends of the country differs from other killings in Iraq in that the victims were prominent enough for their names to be recorded. Full Story