Riad al-Saray

Al-Iraqiya

September 7, 2010, in Baghdad, Iraq

Al-Saray, 35, an anchor for state-owned Al-Iraqiya television, was killed when unidentified gunmen opened fire on his car in western Baghdad. He was gunned down about 6 a.m. while en route to Karbala in southern Iraq, according to news reports.

Al-Saray, who joined Al-Iraqiya in 2005, hosted religious-based programs that generally promoted reconciliation between Shiites and Sunnis, according to news reports and CPJ interviews.

Iraqi Vice President Adel Abd al-Mehdi called on police to solve the killing. "The murder of journalist Riyad al-Saray requires urgent investigation by the security services to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice," he said in a statement. He called the killing of journalists "shameful."

Al-Iraqiya, part of the state-run Iraqi Media Network, has had the highest death toll of any media organization in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, CPJ research shows. Al-Saray was survived by a wife and three children.

Medium: Television

Job: Broadcast Reporter

Beats Covered: Culture

Gender: Male

Local or Foreign: Local

Freelance: No

Type of Death: Murder

Suspected Source of Fire: Political Group

Impunity: Yes

Taken Captive: No

Tortured: No

Threatened: No

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• Al-Iraqiya anchorman gunned down in Iraq, September 7, 2010