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
