Khalid W. Hassan, 23, a reporter and interpreter, was shot while driving to work in the south central Seiydia district, the newspaper reported. He had called the bureau to say that he was taking an alternative route because his usual way was blocked by a security checkpoint, the newspaper said. The Times reported that the journalist called his mother a half hour later to say, “I’ve been shot.” The family notified the newspaper that Hassan later died.
An Iraqi of Palestinian descent, Hassan had worked for the Times’ Baghdad bureau since fall 2003, the newspaper said. He was survived by his mother and four sisters. He was the second New York Times employee killed on assignment in Iraq, CPJ research shows. Times reporter Fakher Haider, 38, was killed in Basra in September 2005.
“Khalid was part of a large, sometimes unsung, community of Iraqi news-gatherers, translators, and support staff, who take enormous risks every day to help us comprehend their country’s struggle and torment,” Bill Keller, executive editor of the Times, said in a statement.