User:Crtew/Safa al-Din Abdel Hamid

 Safa al-Din Abdel Hamid , also spelled Safah Abdul Hameed and his name was incorrectly reported as Safaa al-Khayat, (? – 8 September 2010), was an Iraqi broadcast reporter for Al-Mosuliyah, which is a private channel in Mosul, Iraq.

According to BBC News, Hamid was the second TV journalist killed in two days as the day before TV presenter Riad al-Saray had been assassinated in Baghdad.

Just before Hamid's murder, Reporters Without Borders announced that more journalists -- 172 journalists and an additional 58 media workers -- had been killed in the Iraq War than during World War II. The majority of those journalists were native Iraqis as all but 22 were not from Iraq, according to the Arabic Press Freedom Observatory.

Career
Hamid was a broadcast journalist for Al-Mosuliyah in Mosul. The private channel covered government issues dealing with the Ninawa Governorate in Northern Iraq. Hamid's show was called "Our Mosques" and he primarily documented historic religious sites around Mosul. He had worked for the station for a little less than a year at the time he was murdered.

Death
Safa al-Din Abdel Hamid was leaving for work when he shot outside of his home in Mosul by gunmen firing from a speeding car. The shooting occured around 8 a.m. Hamid's death followed al-Saray's assassination by a day.

Authorities believe that just like Riad al-Saray, Hamid was targeted.

Context
Two and a half months after Hamid, Mazen Mardan al-Baghdadi, who worked for the same channel, was also shot at his home on November 22, 2010. Armed men showed up to his home and asked to speak to him stating that they were military agents. Al-Baghdadi was 18 years old, according to news reports. He worked for Al-Mosuliya for the last seven months presenting two talk shows, "Sabah al-Kheir" (Good morning) and "Al-Mosul fi Isbou" (Mosul in a Week).

Impact
Hamid was the second TV journalist shot within two days.

Reactions
Irina Bokova, who is the director-general of UNESCO, said: "The wave of journalist killings we have seen in recent days is cause for deep concern and must stand condemned." She said it was important to defend the rights of journalists, especially in “countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq where conflict has wrought so much damage to the social fabric of the nation."

The International Federation of Journalists organized political groups throughout Iraq to speak out against the violence against journalists following the murder of Hamid by gunmen in Mosul and Ryad al-Saray who was shot the previous day in Baghdad. Aidan White, who is the general secretary of the IFJ, said: "Iraqi journalists are once again being targeted and killed for their work. Politicians from all sides must declare their intention to stamp out violence against media and eradicate the impunity for those who target journalists."

Personal
Hamid was a married man with six children.