Special Alert Who Killed Steven Vincent?

Dear Friends,

Three days ago, an eloquent op-ed condemning militia violence in the Southern Iraqi city of Basra appeared in The New York Times. Today the author of that op-ed, Steven Vincent, of New York City, is dead. According to the Associated Press, five gunmen traveling in a police car seized Steven and his female translator, Nour Weidi, outside a money exchange shop on Tuesday. This morning, Steven's body was found with multiple gunshot wounds including a fatal shot to his head. His assassination was confirmed by the British and U.S. Embassies. Nour was also found with gunshot wounds, but she is expected to survive.

An American freelance journalist, Steven Vincent spent more than 2 years writing a book and reporting from Basra, much of which is chronicled in his blog "In the Red Zone." In a Sunday New York Times op-ed, he described a climate of fear in Basra perpetrated by Iraq's Shi'ite militias, including militias affiliated with the radical cleric Moqtada Sadr and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). He wrote: "An Iraqi police lieutenant, who for obvious reasons asked to remain anonymous, confirmed to me the widespread rumors that a few police officers are perpetrating many of the hundreds of assassinations - mostly of former Baath Party members - that take place in Basra each month."

Was Steven killed by some of these same off-duty police officers? Read the op-ed that may have gotten him killed and learn more about the growing problem of militia violence and political assassinations in Iraq.

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See:
Switched Off in BasraBy Steven VincentThe New York TimesJuly 31, 2005

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