The brother-in-law of the new judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial was one of at least 15 people who were found dead today in a wave of violence around Baghdad.

Kadim Abdul-Hussein died when gunmen opened fire on his car in a predominately Sunni suburb of west Baghdad. His son, Karrar, was wounded.

It was not clear whether they were targeted because they were related to Judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa, a Shia Muslim who has been presiding over the Saddam trial since last week, or if they had simply fallen foul of one of the many random sectarian attacks that have been plaguing Baghdad.

During Saddam’s first trial, three defence lawyers were killed, and in July, Saddam and three other defendants refused food to protest over lack of security for lawyers and the conduct of the trial.

Today's attack in the Ghazaliyah district came half an hour before the weekly ban on traffic in the capital, that has been instituted to try to prevent suicide bombings on the Muslim holy day.

Judge Al-Khalifa had been deputy to the original chief judge in the trial, Judge Abdullah al-Amiri, who was removed on accusations he was too soft on Saddam. Among other things, Judge al-Amiri had angered Kurdish politicians by declaring in court that Saddam was "not a dictator."

Saddam’s nine lawyers walked out of the trial on Monday to boycott the proceedings in protest of al-Amiri’s removal.

Judge Al-Khalifa later adjourned the trial until October 9, saying that he wanted to give the defendants time to persuade their original lawyers to end the boycott, or to confer with new attorneys.

Saddam and six co-defendants face genocide charges for their roles in a campaign against Kurdish rebels in the late 1980s. The defendants could face the death penalty if convicted.

The death of Mr Abdul-Hussein came as ten bodies with signs of torture were found around Baghdad, more apparent victims of the sectarian death squads that roam the capital, while at least four people died in scattered attacks.

The corpses of seven men and one woman were found in east Baghdad neighborhoods. They were blindfolded, and had their hands and legs bound, police said.

Two more corpses, riddled with bullets, their hands and legs bound, were fished out of the Tigris river in the afternoon in Suwayrah, 25 miles (40 km) south of Baghdad. The police said they also showed signs of torture.

US commanders say that since the start of the holy month of Ramadan, which Sunnis started observing last Saturday and Shias on Monday, there had been an increase in sectarian violence in Iraq, centred on the capital

In an Iraqi army and police joint operation in the city of Baqouba, 35 miles (60 km) northeast of Baghdad, three bodies were discovered in a house and weapons were found in a mosque, while a traffic policeman was killed and two civilians injured in a bombing attack in central Baghdad.

Insurgents used what is becoming an increasingly common technique - detonating one bomb to attract attention, then detonating a second bomb when people had come to look, causing the casualties.

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