Imad Abdul-Razzaq al-Obaid

Editor's Note: The original text of this alert has been altered to reflect the correct spelling of Raad Mutashar’s name.

New York, May 9, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s murder of an Iraqi journalist, his driver, and two passengers, who were gunned down outside the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

Gunmen riding in an Opel without a license plate intercepted a vehicle carrying Raad Mutashar, 43, owner and director of a media company, on a road southwest of Kirkuk at around 2 p.m., a company source told CPJ. The source said the gunmen shot at close range Al-Mutashar, driver Imad Abdul-Razzaq al-Obaid, and passengers Nibras Abdul-Razzaq al-Obaid and Aqil Abdul-Qadir. The Associated Press first reported today’s attack.

Gunmen riding in an Opel without a license plate intercepted a vehicle carrying Mutashar, 43, owner and director of a media company, on a road southwest of Kirkuk at around 2 p.m., a company source told CPJ. The source said the gunmen shot Mutashar, driver Imad Abdul-Razzaq al-Obaid, and passengers Nibras Abdul-Razzaq al-Obaid and Aqil Abdul-Qadir. The Associated Press first reported the attack.

Mutashar's company, Al-Raad, published a weekly newspaper, Al-Iraq Ghadan, and a related institute operated a news agency and a media education center. A CPJ source said Mutashar was a prominent writer, poet, and journalist who started the company four years earlier.

The CPJ source said Mutashar's son was kidnapped more than a year previous but was released after a ransom was paid. The kidnappers told Mutashar that his journalistic work had prompted the abduction, the source said.

Imad Abdul-Razzaq al-Obaid and Nibras Abdul-Razzaq al-Obaid were Mutashar's brothers-in-law.

Gunmen riding in an Opel without a license plate intercepted a vehicle carrying Raad Mutashar, 43, owner and director of a media company, and driver al-Obaid on a road southwest of Kirkuk at around 2 p.m., a company source told CPJ. The source said the gunmen killed Mutashar and al-Obaid, along with passengers Nibras Abdul-Razzaq al-Obaid and Aqil Abdul-Qadir.

Mutashar's company, Al-Raad, published a weekly newspaper, Al-Iraq Ghadan, and a related institute operated a news agency and a media educational center. A CPJ source said Mutashar was a prominent writer, poet, and journalist who started the company four years earlier. Imad Abdul-Razzaq al-Obaid and Nibras Abdul-Razzaq al-Obaid were Mutashar's brothers-in-law.