BAGHDAD — Iraq’s panel tasked with purging government ranks of former members of Saddam Hussein’s party has removed the country’s top judge from his post because of alleged ties to the now-dissolved Baath party.



The deputy chief of the country’s Justice and Accountability Committee, Bakhtiar Omar Al-Qadhi, said Thursday that the decision to remove Chief Judge Medhat Al-Mahmoud from the Supreme Judicial Council was based on "strong evidence" supplied by parliament.



Al-Qadhi wouldn’t discuss the details, saying that Al-Mahmoud has 60 days to appeal.



After the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam in 2003, Al-Mahmoud was appointed supervisor for the Justice Ministry and in 2005 he took over the Supreme Judicial Council that oversees courts nationwide.



Seven killed in attacks



Attacks mostly targeting security forces north of Baghdad killed seven people Thursday, security and medical officials said, the latest in an uptick in nationwide violence.



Near the main northern city of Mosul, gunmen killed two brothers — a policeman and a soldier — inside their home, according to officials. The soldier was a bodyguard for Iraqi parliament Speaker Osama Al-Nujaifi.

Also close to Mosul, a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed two policemen and wounded one other.



And just north of Baghdad, separate shootings and bombings in Balad and Dujail left three people dead, including two anti-Qaeda militiamen, and seven people wounded. — AP/AFP