Baghdad: A defence lawyer in the Saddam Hussein case who was wounded in a n ambush last week said on Wednesday that he has fled the country and is appealing to the ruler of the Gulf state of Qatar to grant him asylum.
The move is another blow to the troubled case.
Thamir al-Khuzaie was injured in the November 8 ambush in western Baghdad in which another defence lawyer, Adel al-Zubeidi, was killed.
Al-Zubeidi was the second defence lawyer involved in the case to be assassinated since the trial opened October 19.
"I was only a lawyer who practiced his profession in Iraq. Yet I was subjected to an assassination attempt and to danger that might have even touched my family," al-Khuzaie said.
He said that he has written to the ruler of Qatar asking for 'humanitarian asylum' for him and his family because they were under the constant danger every minute and second.
Al-Khuzaie represented two of Saddam's seven co-defendants in the trial, which resumes on Novemebr 28.
Saddam's personal attorney, Khalil al-Dulaimi, broke off dealings with the Iraqi special court following the killing of lawyer Saadoun al-Janabi, whose body was found two days after the opening session.
Following the assassination of the second lawyer, al-Dulaimi indicated the defence team would not show up for the November 28 session.
About 1,100 Iraqi lawyers involved in the case behind the scenes also announced they were quitting the defence team because of security fears.
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