Al-Shoumari, a correspondent for the Egypt-based satellite channel
Al-Baghdadia, was found shot in Baghdad’s southern district of Doura on
April 4 by Iraqi police and taken to Yarmouk hospital morgue, his
father told CPJ. Al-Shoumari, also know as al-Hadithi (the name of his
family’s hometown), was abducted on April 3.
Al-Shoumari was alone when he was seized, and his killers were not
identified, sources told CPJ. Abdelhamid al-Sa’eh, director of news at
the channel, said he suspected that al-Shoumari, a Sunni Muslim, was
kidnapped by elements within the Shiite-dominated Iraqi police, but
could not provide details.
Al-Shoumari had worked for Al-Baghdadia for approximately seven months. According to the Los Angeles Times,
al-Shoumari regularly confronted Iraqi police about suspicions that
they were committing extrajudicial killings. The channel’s Baghdad
director, Muhammad Fitian, and al-Shoumari’s father both told CPJ they
were not aware of confrontations with the police.
A colleague at Al-Baghdadia said al-Shoumari regularly interviewed
authorities about human rights violations and the daily suffering of
the Iraqi people. Al-Shoumai did on-camera reporting and anchored a
news program.
Al-Baghdadia was critical of the Iraqi government and the U.S. military
presence in Iraq, according to The Associated Press. Baghdad’s southern
district of Doura was a hotbed of violence, and dead bodies were
frequently discovered in the neighborhood.