Alaa Abdulkareem Fartusi
Alaa Abdulkareem Fartusi (1978? – February 10, 2008) was an Iraqi journalist for al-Furat, a Shiite-backed satellite news station.
[edit] Career
Fartusi worked as a camera man for al-Furat for two years prior to his death in 2008. [1]
Fellow al-Furat reporter Ahmed Mehdi said of him:
| “ | Apart from being a colleague, he was a very good friend. He was always optimistic, always happy. If there was sadness, he would be the one smiling trying to console everyone. We miss him as a friend more than anything else.[1] | ” |
[edit] Death
Fartusi was part of a crew traveling to Samarra for a story commemorating the 2nd anniversary of the February 2006 bombing of the Golden Mosque, one of the holiest Shiite sites in Iraq.[1] On February 10, 2008, while travelling to Samarra, a roadside bomb was detonated, killing Fartusi and the driver of the vehicle he was travelling in.[1] According to Mehdi, Fartusi and his team were probably not targeting the station.[1] The first journalist killed in Iraq in 2008, Fartusi leaves behind his wife and two children, daughters ages 1 and 3.[1]
