[JURIST] A senior judge in Iraq [JURIST news archive] has been kidnapped at gunpoint, a Salahudin provincial police colonel said Wednesday. Judge Sa'adoun Hassan al-Azzawi was kidnapped Tuesday night by gunmen while traveling in his car. Azzawi is the deputy head of the Tikrit court of appeal, and his abduction marks the third recent attack on judges by militants.

Kidnappings of judges, lawyers and legislators have been common in Iraq in recent months, including the abduction and murder of an assistant [JURIST report] to a trial lawyer representing a co-defendant of Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] and the deaths of three other defense lawyers [JURIST report] in the case. A Sunni Iraqi legislator was also kidnapped and released [JURIST report] in August. Xinhua has more.