State Department official dies in Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Colin Powell announced on Wednesday that a State Department education specialist was killed in Iraq.

James Mollen, who had spent about a year in Iraq, was killed outside the "green zone," the special high security area to which Iraqi officials and U.S. diplomats normally are confined, U.S. officials said.

Powell said in a statement that Mollen was a consultant to Iraq's minister of education and the minister of higher education.

"Jim dedicated his life to a noble cause: improving the quality of education for thousands of Iraqis," Powell said.

In October, a State Department security officer, Ed Seitz, was killed during an attack at a U.S. base near Baghdad International Airport.

Family remembers State Department official's desire to rebuild Iraq

By Associated Press, 11/24/2004 22:16

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) A State Department education specialist killed in Iraq had a lifelong commitment to helping others and wanted to rebuild the country, his family said Wednesday.

James Mollen, 48, a native of Binghamton, had spent about a year in Iraq as a consultant to the minister of education and the minister of higher education.

The State Department told Mollen's parents, John and Anne, who live in Vestal, that their son was driving alone in his car after leaving the Ministry of Education in Baghdad when a gunman in another car shot him in the head, killing him instantly.

Mollen was killed outside the ''green zone,'' the special high security area to which Iraqi officials and U.S. diplomats normally are confined, according to a news release from the State Department.

''He very passionately believed in helping the people of Iraq,'' his brother, Tim Mollen, told the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. ''He wanted to help with the reconstruction effort and help the Iraqi people get back on their feet.''

Family members said James Mollen had a long history of helping others, including a decade of volunteering to assist orphans overseas.

Before the Iraq assignment, Mollen had volunteered for President Bush's campaign in 2000.

''He didn't have the (State Department) job for long before he was sent there,'' Tim Mollen said. ''We've been worried this whole time. He was supposed to come home soon.''

Mollen had plans to fly to Europe on Dec. 1 and then return to New York for the holidays.

Now his body will be flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where an autopsy will be performed, the State Department told the family.

''Jim dedicated his life to a noble cause: improving the quality of education for thousands of Iraqis,'' Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a statement. ''Jim's sacrifice will not be in vain.''

In October, a State Department security officer, Ed Seitz, was killed during an attack at a U.S. base near Baghdad International Airport.

Mollen is survived by his father, mother and three other brothers, including Broome County District Attorney Gerald Mollen.

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