Thursday, October 20 2005 10:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Baghdad: Sunni-led insurgents killed 26 people in Iraq on the opening day of Saddam Hussein's trial, including six Shiites who were lined up at a factory and gunned down in front of their fellow workers, police said.

In two other deadly attacks yesterday (Oct 19, 2005), six civilians were killed when mortar rounds hit their homes in Samarra, 95 kilometers north of Baghdad, and three-election commission officials were shot and killed on the outskirts of the capital in Abu Ghraib, they said.

Rory Carroll, 33, an Irish citizen who is the Baghdad correspondent for the British newspaper 'The Guardian' also was apparently kidnapped in the capital yesterday.

A bomb also went off at a famous monument in a Baghdad square honoring the 8th-century founder of Baghdad to whom Saddam often compared himself. The blast, which toppled them bust of Abu Jaafar Al-Mansour but caused no injuries, appeared to be a jab at the former dictator.

In addition, the military said that two coalition soldiers were killed one American, the other British in attacks on Tuesday night (Oct 18, 2005).

Insurgents opened fire on a police checkpoint near the Hai Al-Adil highway in western Baghdad, killing four policemen and wounding 11, said police captain Qassim Hassan.

Three other shootings in the capital killed Hakim Mirza, a municipal director, and his driver; former Iraqi soldier Muhsin Chitheer; Mohammed Haron, secretary of a journalists' union.