The body of Saadoun Janabi, lawyer for Awad Hamad al-Bandar al-Sadun, one of Saddam's seven co-defendants, was found today dumped in the impoverished northern Baghdad neighbourhood of Ur.
Mr Janabi was kidnapped from his office by two carloads of gunmen late yesterday.

The murder "has all the fingerprints of kidnappings and killings by terrorist groups", said Leith Kubba, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari.

"This cowardly act ... attempts to divert attention from bringing justice to those who violated the law and disrespected human lives," Mr Kubba said.

Saddam's Iraqi lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, demanded better protection for Saddam's legal team. Mr Kubba, however, said protection had been offered.

Mr Janabi's client, a former chief judge of the revolutionary court and deputy head of Saddam's office, sat next to the ousted leader in the dock when they went on trial on Wednesday for crimes against humanity over a 1982 murder of almost 150 Shi'ites.

"If they can't protect lawyers, how are they going to defend their clients and how will witnesses dare to come before the tribunals?" asked Badie Izzat Aref, a lawyer for former deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz. His client also faces trial for crimes against humanity.

The murder of Janabi was likely to fuel anger from Sunni Arabs, favoured under Saddam's regime. Mr Kubba said, "It does not seem to be a revenge killing."

A defiant Saddam and his former cohorts all pleaded not guilty to charges, including murder and torture, on the first day of the trial watched by millions across the globe. They face execution if convicted.

The hearing was adjourned to November 28 so witnesses could be questioned about the massacre, although an ailing key witness will testify at a special hearing in the next few days.

Investigating magistrates will visit Waddah Khalil al-Sheikh, an intelligence officer under Saddam, early next week "to hear his testimony because he is sick and could die before the next court session," a source close to the court said.

Mr Janabi's murder followed the release of a reporter from Britain's Guardian newspaper, kidnapped on Wednesday after interviewing a victim of Saddam's regime.

Irish journalist Rory Carroll was "safe" and resting at the British embassy in Baghdad today, a diplomat said.

"We are over the moon at the news," Rory's father Joe told Ireland's RTE state television.

Carroll was kidnapped in the eastern Baghdad neighbourhood of Baladiyat by gunmen who bundled him into a car with one of his companions, according to the newspaper.

"Interior ministry services arrested some members of the group that kidnapped him, there was an interrogation, and we freed him," a ministry official told AFP.

On the political front, electoral officials continued to review vote tallies of the results of Saturday's constitutional referendum after reports of anomalies in the voting.

"We ask people not to rush us," said Farid Ayyar, a spokesman for the Independent Electoral Commission.

The charter that lays out the legal foundations for Iraq after decades of dictatorship can be approved by a simple majority, but rejected if two-thirds of voters say "no" in at least three of Iraq's 18 provinces.

Although it is supported by Iraq's Shi'ite majority and the Kurdish community, the constitution is opposed by Sunni Arabs who fear its federalist provisions could lead to the break-up of the country.

And Arab League Secretary-General Amr Mussa, in Baghdad on his first visit since the US-led invasion in April 2003, met with a leading Sunni Arab religious organisation in his quest to hold a national dialogue to ease sectarian tensions.

Mussa met with leaders of the Committee of Muslim Scholars after Friday prayers. The meeting was polite, but the group said a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces in Iraq had to be set before talks could begin, according to a statement.

In continued violence, four US military personnel were killed in fighting in the restive western province of Al-Anbar, the US military said.