Wali, assistant cameraman and fixer for the Qatar-based satellite channel Al-Jazeera, was killed by gunfire early in the morning in the city of Karbala, the station reported.
According to a statement on Al-Jazeera's Web site, Wali was killed by a single gunshot to the head when he peered over the edge of the rooftop of the Khaddam Al-Hussein Hotel, where an Al-Jazeera news team was covering fighting between U.S. troops and members the Mehdi Army, which is loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Al-Jazeera said there was "no verifiable information ... as to the source of the bullet."