MAY 31, 2005
Posted: June 15, 2005
Mouthana Ibrahim, Al-Arabiya
ATTACKED
Ibrahim a reporter with the Dubai-based Arabic satellite channel Al-Arabiya was injured after being shot in Mosul, his hometown. The journalist, who has been threatened repeatedly by insurgents for his work, was driving with his family in an industrial area of the city, when he stopped his car to film a fire that had erupted in one of the buildings in the area.
After filming for a brief period, Ibrahim told CPJ that armed men in two cars pursued his car, boxing in his vehicle, and forcing him to stop. Ibrahim told CPJ that a gunman emerged from one of the cars and demanded that he get out. One of Ibrahim’s children jumped, and the gunman stepped back, firing several rounds at the car.
Ibrahim told CPJ that he acted dead after the shooting, and that the gunmen drove off. One of the bullets injured him in the leg.
The journalist does not know who attacked him but he and his colleagues at Al-Arabiya believe it is because of his journalistic work. Prior to the attack, Ibrahim had received a threatening phone call at home during which the caller accused him of being a traitor and collaborator.
Insurgents bombed Al-Arabiya’s Baghdad office in October 2004, killing five station employees. Insurgents have also made numerous threats against the station and its employees, protesting its coverage and demanding support for the insurgency.