Hussein, an Iraqi photographer working for the German-based European Pressphoto Agency (EPA), was killed by a group of gunmen in front of his home in the northern city of Mosul. The precise motive was not immediately known, but Hussein's colleagues believe it was connected to his work for a foreign news organization.
The gunmen attacked Hussein as he returned home from an Internet café across the street, according to a colleague who spoke to the journalist's family. The colleague said Hussein was shot first in the leg before the assailants pursued him and shot him dead at close range.
Another colleague told CPJ that Hussein had received a written threat about six months before his death, when he worked for another international news organization. The threat, according to the colleague, warned Hussein to stop his work and accused him of being a "traitor."