freelance
August 7, 2006, in Baghdad, Iraq

The body of freelance journalist Ali, 30, was discovered in late evening by police in the eastern section of Baghdad known as al-Sadr City, according to a CPJ source. His body was riddled with bullets, and Iraqi police said they found signs of torture, The Associated Press reported.

A local source told CPJ that the journalist had been abducted while he was at a gas station in Al-Shaab neighborhood of Baghdad two weeks earlier. The kidnappers had demanded ransom, but his family was unable to pay.

A local source said Ali, a well-known Sunni columnist for several Baghdad-based papers, including Al-Sabah and Al-Qarar, may have been targeted because he was highly critical of the Shiite-dominated security forces.

Medium:Print
Job:Columnist / Commentator
Beats Covered:Politics, War
Gender:Male
Local or Foreign:Local
Freelance:Yes
Type of Death:Murder
Suspected Source of Fire:Political Group
Impunity:Yes
Taken Captive:Yes
Tortured:Yes
Threatened:No

 

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