Outrage over murder of Kurdish journalist in Kirkuk

Chamal Abdallah Assad

Reporters Without Borders today condemned the murder of Kurdish journalist Shamal Abdallah Assad on 15 April in Kirkuk, 250 km north of Baghdad. Assad worked for local Kurdish television station Kirkuk TV and satellite TV Kurdsat of President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. "We are dismayed that gunmen can murder a journalist on the street in broad daylight," the press freedom organization said. "In this climate of tension, we are worried that other Kurdish journalists could be the target of attacks and we reiterate our call for journalists to be seen as just observers and essential conveyers of news and information in wartime, and to be preserved from violence whatever their origin."

Fadel Hazem Fadel

Kurdsat's correspondent in Baghdad said Assad was driving down Kirkuk's main street when gunmen aboard a Nissan Primera opened fire. They jumped out and pull Assad's body from his car on to the street before departing.

Ali Abrahim Aissa

He was the third Kurdish journalist to be killed on two days. Two members of a crew with Al-Hurriya TV, a television station also run by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, were killed on 14 April while on their way to cover a car-bomb explosion in southern Baghdad. A second blast killed reporter Fadel Hazem Fadel, 35, and his cameraman, Ali Abrahim Aissa, 21, while Shaker Awad and driver Mohammed Abrahim were injured.