Gunmen have shot dead an Iraqi judge as he was leaving his home in eastern Baghdad.
Judge Qais Hashim Shameri was killed along with his son in a roadside ambush this morning.
Meanwhile, the US military says an American soldier has been killed by a roadside bomb blast in Baghdad. A spokesman said the soldier sustained the injuries when a patrol was attacked with an improvised explosive device.
According to the latest figures from the Pentagon, the soldier’s death brings to 1,374 the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion.
US general warns of 'spectacular'
Separately, a top US general has said Iraqi insurgents could be planning a ‘spectacular’ attack before or during Sunday’s elections, which are the first since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime.
The US military’s Deputy Director of Operations in Iraq, Brigadier General Erv Lessel, said the 50% lull in attacks in recent days is not expected to last.
‘We think it's a calm before the storm, that they're unable to sustain the level of attacks that they've had, but they're saving up for something more spectacular in the days preceding elections and on election day', Lessel said.
