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A freelance American journalist who wrote about alleged corruption and lawlessness in the Iraqi city of Basra has been abducted at gunpoint and shot dead. Steven Vincent's body was recovered at the side of a road south of Basra late last night, several hours after he and his female translator were kidnapped as they left a currency exchange shop, within sight of a British military checkpoint. He had been shot three times in the chest. Nouriya Itais, the translator, who was also his fiancee, was shot four times and seriously wounded, according to a nurse in a Basra hospital. The...

EDITOR'S NOTE: The author of this article, Steven Vincent, was murdered in Basra hours after this was published. A piece of his on Islamists there appeared in the New York Times (and subsequently the International Herald Tribune) this past weekend. Basra, Iraq — In the middle of an interview with Sheik Abdul al-Baghdali, an American-hating supporter of Moqtada al-Sadr, the lights in his office suddenly went out. "This is what your country has done to Iraq," he snorted, "stolen its electricity." On his pumpkin-sized face was the insufferable smirk of a man who knows — right or wrong — he...

American Journalist Found Dead in Iraq 08/03 12:48a CDT BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) An American freelance journalist was found dead in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the U.S. Embassy said Wednesday. Police said Steven Vincent had been shot multiple times after he and his Iraqi translator were abducted at gunpoint hours earlier. "I can confirm to you that officials in Basra have recovered the body of journalist Steven Vincent," said embassy spokesman Pete Mitchell. "The U.S. Embassy is working with British military and local Iraqi officials in Basra to determine who is responsible for the death of this journalist. Our...

Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Steven Vincent, the author of the new book, In the Red Zone: A Journey Into The Soul Of Iraq. You can visit his blog at www.redzoneblog.com. FP: Steven Vincent, welcome to Frontpage Interview. Vincent:  Thanks for the opportunity to be here, Jamie. FP: You went to Iraq in the fall of 2003, and the winter and spring of 2004, traveling on your own, with no bodyguards or security of any kind.  Are you courageous, noble or crazy? Or a bit of all three? Vincent:  I’ll defer notions of courage and nobility to our soldiers in Iraq—as for being crazy,...