The International Press Institute condemned the reported murder of journalist Samar Sheikh Ali in Iraq.
The body of Ali, 61, was found by security forces in Baghdad on Saturday, November 17, Reporters Without Borders and the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory reported. He worked for Al-Jamahir Al-Baghdadiya website, JFO said.
Al Shorfa website, which reported the incident, quoted a security official as saying that the journalist had been killed on a different date. They cited Lt. Col. Zuhair Hasan as saying: “Two gunmen attacked the car of Samir al-Sheikh, editor-in-chief of al-Jamaheer al-Baghdadiya newspaper, as he returned home from the newspaper headquarters at 5:00 pm Sunday.”
“It is in the hands of the Iraq government to end the targeted assassination of journalists,” said IPI Deputy Director Anthony Mills. “It is their responsibility to see that the perpetrators are punished.”