Unidentified armed men shot al- Sheikh Ali, the
editor-in-chief of the Baghdad-based daily Al-Jamahir al-Baghdadiya, three
times while he was driving to work, according to the local press freedom group,
the Journalistic
Freedom Observatory who interviewed staff from the newspaper.
The motive for his attack was not immediately
clear. Al-Sheikh Ali, 61, was both a prominent journalist and an outspoken human rights activist, the
journalism observatory said in its statement. No one claimed responsibility for
the attack.