Khaled Mahmoud al-Falahi

Wasan Productions and Al-Arabiya

February 23, 2006, in Samarra, Iraq

The bodies of correspondent Atwar Bahjat, cameraman Khaled Mahmoud al-Falahi, and engineer Adnan Khairallah were found near Samarra, a day after the station lost contact with the crew, editors at Al-Arabiya told CPJ. Bahjat, 30, was a well-known on-air figure. Al-Arabiya said she had recently joined the channel after working as a correspondent for the Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera.

Al-Falahi, 39, and Khairallah, 36, were employees of Wasan Productions who were on assignment for Al-Arabiya. The crew was on the outskirts of the city covering the bombing of the Shiite shrine Askariya, also known as the Golden Mosque.

Al-Arabiya Executive Editor Nabil Khatib said the station lost phone contact with the crew on the evening of February 22. A fixer for Wasan Productions told the station later that armed men driving a white car had attacked the crew after demanding to know the whereabouts of the on-air correspondent.

Medium: Television

Job: Camera Operator

Beats Covered: War

Gender: Male

Local or Foreign: Local

Freelance: Yes

Type of Death: Murder

Suspected Source of Fire: Political Group

Impunity: Yes

Taken Captive: No

Tortured: No

Threatened: No

Related Articles:

• Three Iraqi journalists slain near Samarra , February 23, 2006