Al-Maliki, an editor for Talafar al-Yawm in
charge of local affairs, was gunned down by unidentified gunmen while
exiting an Internet café in Mosul's central district, the paper's
editor-in-chief Tareq Muhammad Ali told CPJ.
Al-Maliki
e-mailed that day's local news to the editor-in-chief around 15 minutes
before he was shot. Al-Maliki often relied on police sources for his
job and enjoyed good relations with them, Ali told CPJ. Insurgents
often target journalists seen dealing with the Iraqi police.
Talafar al-Yawm is
pro-Iraqi government and democracy, Ali told CPJ, adding that in their
reporting they don't refer to the U.S. forces as occupiers. As a
result, the paper has received multiple threats from insurgents.