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Iraq president's guard kills journalist
An officer in the Iraqi president's guard shot dead a well-known radio journalist during a quarrel Saturday near the leader's east Baghdad residence, police said, the Associated Press reported. The shooting of Radio Free Iraq's Baghdad bureau chief Mohammed Bdaiwi drew condemnation from Iraqi politicians and highlights the resentment many residents of the capital feel toward the often aggressive bodyguards of Iraq's VIPs.Bdaiwi was allegedly shot by a junior officer working for Iraqi President Jalal Talabani at a checkpoint near his residence, police said. Talabani is an ethnic Kurd and his bodyguards are also Kurdish. After the shooting, Iraqi security forces besieged the residency compound and the alleged killer was handed over to them, police and state TV said. Talabani suffered a stroke last year and is being treated in Germany. His office issued a statement expressing deep sorry of the "murder" of Bdaiwi. "This act runs against all the values of the Presidential Brigade ... We stress that the perpetrator will stand trial and receive his fair punishment," it said. State-run TV showed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki arriving at the crime scene near the presidential palace. "All the people behind this should stand trial. Blood for blood and this is a violation of the law," he said. Posted by: Steve White 2014-03-23 |
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