Al-Sabah journalist gunned down in Baghdad

Reporters Without Borders voiced outrage today at the murder of journalist Abdel Karim Al-Roubai, a senior technician with the government daily Al-Sabah, who was shot dead yesterday while travelling in a car in Baghdad. Another employee of the newspaper who was with him in the car, Ahmed Sami, was seriously wounded. “Roubai's death brings to 104 the total of journalists and media assistants killed since the start of the war in Iraq in 2003,” the press freedom organisation said. “This was the third deadly attack on Al-Sabah and its staff in the past four months. We hope this latest murder of a journalist will not discourage the Iraqi press. We also express our condolences to Roubai's family and our hopes for a swift recovery by Sami.” Several gunmen opened fire on Roubai's car yesterday morning car right in the heart of Baghdad. Roubai was hit in the head and died on the spot. Sami, who was seriously injured, was taken to hospital. The first attack on Al-Sabah this year was in May, when a car-bomb went off in the newspaper's garage, killing a print shop technician and injuring around 20 other employees, including journalists. Another car-bomb went off in the newspaper's parking lot on 27 August, leaving two dead and 25 wounded. Roubai is the third Al-Sabah journalist to be killed. Ahmed Jabbar Hashim was murdered on 1 April 2005, and Ahmad Adam was murdered on 15 May 2005.