Posted on 07/13/2007 3:57:25 PM PDT by mdittmar
(CBS News) BAGHDAD An Iraqi journalist for The New York Times was shot to death Friday on his way to work, less than an hour after he called the bureau to say a checkpoint had blocked his normal route, the newspaper said.
Khalid W. Hassan was the second Times employee to be killed in Iraq, the newspaper said.
Gunmen killed Hassan, 23, in the southwest Baghdad district of Sadiyah, according to a statement from Times spokeswoman, Catherine Mathis.
The newspaper reported on its Web site that Hassan had called the bureau to say he was blocked by a checkpoint. A half-hour later, the paper said, he called his mother and told her: "I've been shot."
He "was shot and killed on the way to work," the Times statement said. "The circumstances of the attack remain unclear at this time."
Hassan, who worked for the paper in Baghdad for four years, "was part of a large, sometimes unsung community of Iraqi t news-gatherers, translators, and support staff, who take enormous risks every day to help us comprehend their country's struggle and torment," Bill Keller, the Times executive editor, said. "Without them, Americans' understanding of what is happening on the ground in Iraq would be much, much poorer."
He was the second Times employee to be killed in Iraq. The first, Fakher Haider, 38, a stringer for the paper in the southern city of Basra, was also shot to death in 2005.
Hassan's slaying came a day after two Iraqi staffers of the London-based Reuters news agency — a photographer and a driver — were killed by clashes between U.S. forces and Shiite mililtiamen in east Baghdad.
At least 110 journalists and 40 media support staffers have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, according to the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists. More than 80 percent of media deaths have been Iraqis.
Does this mean NY Times’ credibility rose just a little ?
Friendly fire.
I’d miss him if he’d been on our side. A dead NYT reporter is a dead terrorist.
Yes, that was also my thought. Friendly fire. He wasn’t recognized by his usual al Qaeda pals, because of the route change.
His name sounds awful familiar. Is this the NYT reporter thats been aiding the enemy or is it one of the others?
How ironic that he worked for a company which has done all it can to embolden and raise the morale of the very scum who murdered him. Prayers for he and his family. Shame and curses to the NYT.
Sonny at the turnpike. (sort of)
The irony of being killed by Friendly Fire??
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters
He "was shot and killed on the way to work," the Times statement said.
This would seem a bit peculiar.
Let's just call it as we see it.
The nyt,reuters,afp,ap,are and have been,hiring terrorists as their stringers.
All of the above are the Propaganda arm for terrorists.
And their stories are splashed across the frontage of every American newspaper.
/rant
“Without them, Americans’ understanding of what is happening on the ground in Iraq would be much, much poorer.”
That is rich. These lying a**holes have propagandized everything. Since Americans are being fed lives, I suspect that understanding will now go up.
Well, I’m sorry he’s dead. Sorry for him and his family. He was only a kid. And I hope the Times does the right thing by his survivors.
That said, better one thousand dead journalists than one dead GI. Sorry ‘bout that. But that is how I feel.
My condolences to the family. I am truly sorry for their loss.
But I can't help wondering... which side got him, us or them?
Is this not a daily happening - people being shot and killed on their way somewhere - in N.Y. City? Shouldn't the N.Y. TImes condemn being in New York City along with condemning being in Iraq?
Personally,I think it was them,the Iraqi people,who saw a traitor.
I don’t care if it is a sin... I smiled!
LLS
Thanks for that link. The late journalist had some shady connections it seems.
Was this arranged by the Clintons?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.