Saddam Hussein's defence lawyers said this evening they had suspended all contact with the special tribunal trying the ousted Iraqi leader, citing fear for their lives after the murder of a colleague.
The next hearing in the trial is more than a month away but the move calls into question whether Saddam can receive a fair trial when Iraq is still stricken by violence that shows no signs of abating in the run-up to a December 15th election.
"We, the defence team that groups over 2,000 Iraqi lawyers ... have decided to completely halt dealing with the tribunal," read a statement signed by Saddam's lead lawyer Khalil Dulaimi.
The statement cited "the deteriorating security situation and its repercussions on the work of the Iraqi lawyers, and the continuous threats against their lives and their families that were demonstrated by the killing of the martyr Saadoun Janabi".
Janabi, attorney for Awad al-Bander, a former judge who appeared with Saddam and six other co-accused in court on the first day of the trial on October 19th, was abducted from his Baghdad office the day after the court appearance and shot.
The trial has been adjourned until November 28th. Saddam and the seven others are charged with crimes against humanity over the deaths of 148 men after a 1982 assassination attempt against the former president in the village of Dujail.
An official at the tribunal said it would be up to the chief judge to decide how to proceed on November 28th if the defence lawyers do not attend.