BAGHDAD, 3 March 2005 — Gunmen in Baghdad slew a judge and his son, both of whom worked for the tribunal that will put Saddam Hussein and members of his regime on trial for alleged crimes against humanity, officials said yesterday.

Violence in Iraq escalated with car bombs and clashes killing 14 soldiers and wounding nearly 40 in Baghdad.

Meanwhile, the clergy-led alliance hit a snag yesterday in talks with the Kurds about forming a coalition government, forcing a postponement of plans to convene Iraq’s new Parliament for its first meeting next Sunday.

Talks in northern Iraq between the United Iraqi Alliance and Kurdish political parties faltered over demands by Kurds to expand their territories in return for pledging the 75 seats they won in the 275-member National Assembly. Kurds also expressed concerns that the clergy-backed alliance wants to establish an Islamic state in Iraq.

The two slain men in Baghdad were judge Barwez Mohammed Mahmoud Al-Merwani and his son, lawyer Aryan Barwez Al-Merwani, according to one of the judge’s sons, Kikawz Barwez Mohammed Al-Merwani. He said gunmen in a speeding car raked the pair with gunfire as they were trying to get into a vehicle outside their home. Police Capt. Ali Al-Obeidi said three gunmen were in the car, a green Opel.

The shootings in northern Baghdad’s Azamyiah district on Tuesday marked the first time any legal staff working for the Iraqi Special Tribunal have been killed.

A day before the killings, the tribunal had issued referrals for five former regime members — including one of Saddam’s half brothers — for crimes against humanity. Referrals are similar to indictments, and are the final step before trials can start.

It wasn’t immediately clear, however, if the killings were related to the court actions.

The judge’s son was the local head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of two parties making up the Kurdish coalition.

Two car bombs exploded in the capital, killing 12 Iraqi soldiers and wounding dozens of others. The first blast targeted an Iraqi Army base in central Baghdad, killing eight troops and wounding at least 25. A second car bomb an hour later at an army checkpoint in south Baghdad’s Doura neighborhood killed four soldiers, police said.

Separate clashes in Doura left two police officers dead, the Defense Ministry said. The first bombing and the clashes were claimed in separate statements by Abu Mussab Al-Zarqawi’s Al-Qaeda in Iraq that were posted on the Internet.

The group of the Jordanian-born terrorist mastermind had also claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing Monday in the town of Hillah, 95 kilometers south of Baghdad, that left 125 people dead.

The attack against a crowd of police and army recruits lined up outside a medical clinic was the deadliest since the insurgency began two years ago.

“The bombings in Hillah and again in Baghdad this morning are not going to derail the political process that Iraq is embarked upon,” National Security Adviser Mouwafak Al-Rubaie said in a statement yesterday. “The Iraqi government will go after and hunt down each and every one of these terrorists whether in Iraq or elsewhere.”

Meanwhile, the insurgent Ansar Al-Sunnah Army purportedly posted an Internet statement yesterday claiming to have killed two Turkish drivers they snatched Feb. 25 for allegedly transferring cement supplies to the “Crusaders” on the road to the northern city of Kirkuk. It was not possible to verify the statement’s authenticity. The drivers were identified as Turan Unal and Huseyin Aytag.

Shiite and Kurdish leaders, Iraq’s new political powers, failed to reach agreement after two-day negotiations in northern Arbil, with the clergy-backed candidate for prime minister leaving with only half the deal he needed.

Conservative Islamic Dawa party leader Ibrahim Al-Jaafari indicated after the talks that the alliance, which has 140 seats, was ready to accept a Kurdish demand that one of its leaders, Jalal Talabani, become Iraq’s next president. He would not commit to other demands.

“We, the United Iraqi Alliance, and I personally respect the Kurdish choice for Jalal Talabani to be their nominee for the presidential post. I will convey this honestly to my brothers in the alliance,” he said.

Kurdish demands include expanding Kurdish autonomous areas south to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

— With input from agencies