BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A defense lawyer for one of Saddam Hussein"s co-defendants who was kidnapped by gunmen has been found shot dead, police said on Friday.

Police said the body of Saadoun Janabi was found shortly after his abduction late on Thursday with several gunshot wounds to the head and chest.

Legal sources and witnesses said he was kidnapped by up to 20 heavily-armed men from his Baghdad office.

Janabi was acting as defense attorney for Awad al-Bander, a former top Iraqi judge who appeared in court with Saddam and six other men on Wednesday at the start of their trial on charges stemming from the killings and executions of more than 140 men in 1982.

The case is the first to be launched against Saddam, who is expected to be charged with crimes against humanity and genocide for offences during his almost three-decade rule over Iraq.

Janabi was one of the few lawyers to address the court at Wednesday"s hearing. He said the defense had had insufficient time to study the evidence and accused the U.S.-backed Baghdad government of driving the process.